A Jinchuuriki's way
by Wopsidaisy
Summary: Starts at the same time as Shippuden . Naruto is back from his training with Jiraiya, but who is that red haired girl with him and what's so specal about her? A NaruHina centered Fanfic with other pairings as well.
1. The old treaty and a warm welcoming

Disclaimer: I unfortunately not own Naruto, I do however own any OC and of course the plot for this particular Fanfic :D.

Well, I hope you enjoy all of this :D It takes places at the start of Shippuuden so they are all 15, just wanted to say that. Now I won't take up anymore time. So let's get on to the story.

Chapter 1: The old treaty and a warm welcoming

A girl with bubblegum hair could be found at training ground seven. It was Tuesday so Sakura was training alone, no Tsunade or Shizune. Just her and the calm silence. Three years ago she would have embraced this silence, but not anymore. She was sick and tired of this thick, overwhelming silence. Mostly because she missed her loudmouthed friend Naruto that now had been away for three years. God how she missed both him and Sasuke, she was the only one left in Konoha from team 7, she and their old sensei Kakashi. Sure, Naruto was going to come home again. In not too long time either since if he took too long it would be too late to save Sasuke. He would then become Orochimaru's new body, it was the faith he had chosen in his blind search for power. Over these past three years tough she had realized that she missed Naruto more. When Sasuke had gone away Naruto had been there to comfort her, and in the process of doing so they had grown a band between them. They were in their hearts similar to brother and sister.

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In the forest that surrounded the village where Sakura lived you could see three figures racing towards Konoha. The largest one had white spiky hair, green and red clothes and a big scroll on his back. The smallest one and only female in the group had fiery red hair and dark green eyes. The third and middle one in the group had blonde spiky hair and sky blue eyes, his clothes were a blinding shade of orange. A color he had worn most of his life. It was Uzumaki Naruto on his way home after three years abroad.

After just minutes of running the three persons came to the front gate of Konoha. You could see truthful smiles take its place up on both the faces of the males. The kind of smile you get when you get home after a long time.

"No place like home, right Ero-Sennin" the blond one said calmly after a short while. "You're damn right" Jiraiya answered. "Yeah, yeah. Just let's get this over with" the small female said after awhile. Obviously uncomfortable with reaching their destination.

"Don't be so impatient Rin-chan" Naruto said with a slight hint of irritation in his voice. Why did she have to ruin thisHe really didn't see why she had to bee so nervous!

"Well, you know Naruto, this time Rin is actually right" Jiraya disrupted the two teenagers before they started to fight. With that said they started to walk in to Konoha and towards the Hokage tower.

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Tsunade was seen pouring some sake in to a glass as Shizune exited the room with a bunch of letters in her hands. Tsunade turned her chair and gazed out the window down on the village. It was lunchtime and most of Konoha's habitants were eating, either at home or at one of the village's many restaurants (a/n some tourist information XD). Herself she finished drinking her own lunch and turned around to do some more work.

Right then the door opened and in entered her old genin-teammate Jiraiya and his apprentice the number one surprise ninja Naruto. "Jiraiya, Naruto" she said with obvious happiness in her voice "and... ehh" she said with confusion. She had just noticed a girl with them both; she had long fiery red hair and dark green eyes. Her clothes consisted of a tight white polo shirt that stopped just below her breasts, a pair of dark blue pants that went down to her knees and a pair of dark fingerless gloves that went up to her elbow. She also carried a big knife fastened at her left hip. The thing that caught Tsunade's eyes were however the forehead protector on her left arm, it had no village mark on it. "This is Rin-chan Oba-chan" Naruto answered the Hokage's unsaid question. "It's an honor to meet you Hokage-sama" Rin said as she lightly bowed to The Hokage. "She wants to join Konoha" Naruto said gladly to Tsunade. "Oh, really? Well how come?" Tsunade asked the girl. "You don't want me to join you Hokage-sama?" The girl asked with a hint of fear and disappointment in her voice. "No, don't take it that way. I just want to know your reasons" Tsunade hurried to explain. "Oh, well as you can see I don't belong to any hidden village" she said pointing at her forehead protector, "But I've always wanted to do so, and when I met Naruto and Jiraiya a year ago I decided to try to join Konoha. Since I grew fond of them, and... I know that you accepted Naruto"

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When Sakura was done training she went to the Hokage tower to report to Tsunade. When she knocked on the door to the Hokage's office she heard Tsunade call out to her to enter.

As she did she heard someone almost scream "Sakura-chan" happily and in an instant she had somebody hugging her hard. "I've missed you so much" the hugging person said, he then removed himself from her and reviled his face. _'Naruto?'_ she taught as she was looking at the boy in front of her. Slowly a huge smile took its place on her face as she bursts out in a "Naruto-kun is that really you? Oh, I've missed you too!" and embraced him in another hug. "Hello Sakura" Jiraiya said after a while, "Hello Jiraiya-sama" she answered his greeting. "So, how have you been Sakura-chan?" Naruto asked her. "I've been good, mostly training hard under Tsunade or Shizune". "She has really done much progress" Tsunade cut in there "To bee honest, I've never seen somebody with that kind of chakra control, or that had been that quick to learn how to use it". A smirk entered Rin's face "Well I guess you have now". Tsunade lucked stunned at the girl, surprised by the girl's guts. To actually dear to say against the Hokage herself, and without knowing how good Sakura was at it too. "Oh, yeah. Tsunade, Rin's full name is Kizume Rin" Jiraiya tried to explain. Apparently Tsunade understood this, because the expression that now settled on her face was pure shock. "I should've known when I saw the forehead protector" was the first thing she said "Combined with _that_ hair and _those_ eyes" she then added without losing the shocked expression. Sakura was the only one that looked confused at this, Rin and Jiraiya had during their traveling explained this to Naruto so he understood what they meant. Because of this Sakura got frustrated and suddenly said "Can somebody care to explain what that means to us dumb heads?" a little harder than maybe she ought to've said it, but she was too frustrated to care. This brought Tsunade out of her shock and you could instantly see Tsunade's eyebrow twitching. She hadn't just taught Sakura how to fight and heal, she had taught her other important things too. Things that were important to know, and for her to call herself stupid was like insulting Tsunade as a teacher. Sakura should've predicted how Tsunade would react, but she didn't. Because of this she now wished she hadn't said it, but it was too late. "HARUNO, what have I said about calling yourself stupid?" Tsunade suddenly exploded "Do you not think that I have been a good teacher?" To this both Naruto and Jiraiya sweat dropped at the immense anger that could be sensed from Tsunade from something so ridiculous as that.

Rin on the other hand looked shocked at Sakura. "Ha...ru...no?" she said after a while. This made Tsunade stop her scolding and turn towards Rin as the others also looked at her. Rin slowly walked over to Sakura without losing her shocked expression. She started to walk around Sakura taking in every detail about her, and just as Tsunade hade done with Rin earlier she now started to state certain things about Sakura's look out loud. "_That_ hair and _those_ eyes, you really must be a Haruno. But how is that possible? My grandfather claimed he killed them all 40 years ago, and still yet one is standing her in front of me". As she was ranting she had gone two turns around Sakura and now came to halt in front of her. When she stopped she bent down on one of her knees in a deep bow in front of Sakura and said "I'm sorry for my earlier impoliteness my lady".

This certainly shocked the rest of the people in the room. "What are you doing? And what did you just call me?" Sakura asked when she had regained her senses after the shock. To this Rin slowly stood up and looked confused and suspiciously at Sakura "You mean you do not know of the old treaty between the Haruno and the Kizume clans Haruno-sama?" "What are you talking about? The Haruno clan?? As in a shinobi clan?" Sakura asked her confused. "You don't know about your own clan's history Haruno-sama?" "I don't have a clan, the only family I have are my mother and my father" Sakura said now a little irritated, _'What is she talking about?' _Before Rin could reply Sakura spoke again "Tell me what it is you are talking about! What do mean Treaty and the Haruno _clan?_" "Hai, Haruno-sama. The Treaty between the Haruno and the Kizume clans is based on the fact that the Kizume clan descends from the Haruno clan. This made the Haruno clan think that the Kizume clan should listen to them, they fought them and won. The Kizume clan was now the Haruno clan's servants. At this point they discovered that the members of the Kizume clan could unlock the kekkei-genkei of the Haruno clan members. Therefore they gained a little more respect and a treaty was made. The Kizume clan would counting seeing the Haruno clan as their masters and stay there to unlock their kekkei-genkei as long as the Haruno promised not to use them as mere servants anymore". At this the whole room went quiet and tried to take in what Rin just had said. "You mean I had a whole, _noble_ clan? And that I might have a Kekkei-genkei?" Sakura asked after a while "Hai, Haruno-sama"

After a while of more questions from Sakura it turned out that the clans used to live in a smaller shinobi village in the Fire country, that's why she'd never heard of them. Rin's grandfather, 40 years ago, had betrayed both clans and freed the Kizume clan by organizing his clan to kill their masters. Apparently he must've missed seeing that one child was still alive, Sakura's father. Also the kekkei-genkei that she spoke of didn't just show itself on some people of the clan, but all members of them. As long as there were a Kizume member to unlock it. Rin herself wasn't sure of what it was, people of her clan didn't get to know that kind of things until they turned 18. This because they didn't like to talk about it. They did however find that you should know your own history. What better time then when you enter the grown-up life? Rin also told about the Kizume clan and what she meant with her being better at chakra control. Apparently the Kizume clan was chakra manipulators; she could without any signs or jutsus form and stretch chakra as she wanted to. This made it possible for her to not lose any chakra during a fight, as long as she didn't lose control over that chakra at any point. Not only her own chakra either, she could manipulate other persons chakra as well, she could however not gain chakra by taking it from others. This was her Kekkei-genkei.

It was decided that she was to live with Sakura until they found her an apartment of her own. As she didn't belong to a village she didn't have any shinobi-rank yet. To determine her skills she was to undergo a test in a week's time from now. Jiraiya had also convinced Tsunade to let Naruto at the same time undergo a test of his own, this to determine if he was at chuunin level. If he in fact were, he were to become a chuunin.

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When everything at the Hokage tower had been finished, the three teenagers went in to Konoha in the meaning of letting Rin know the village, and Naruto of course wanted to get some kicks of nostalgia.

"Let's go to Ichiraku and get some ramen, I mean I haven't been there for years now!" Naruto suggested, and since they hadn't had lunch yet the two girls agreed.

When they got there Ayame was standing behind the counter with her back turned towards them. "Oi, Ayame-neechan how have you been?" Naruto said loudly. Ayame turned around to see who it was that called her sister, but she stopped just as she were about to speak. "Naruto-kun? Is that really you? Welcome back!" she said happily "Otou-san, Guess who's here!" She called out to the back. "What do you mean? Who is here Ayame-chan?" Teuchi said as he entered the shop. "Naruto? Welcome back, have a seat, order whatever you want, it's on the house" he said when he saw who it was "Thanks Old man" "Anything for my number one customer".

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When Naruto finally had finished his fifteenth bowl they went out to show Rin the village. After some minutes of sightseeing they heard someone calling "Hey, Sakura-chan" they turned around to se Kiba, Shino and Shikamaru walking towards them. "Hey, Kiba-kun" Sakura answered the boy who had been calling. When the boys reached them Kiba pulled Sakura in to a hug and gave her a peck on the lips. This made Naruto drop his jaw in total surprise. "Y-Y-You t-two ... a-are... d-dating?" he managed to stutter forth. "Yeah, we have been for the past year" Kiba answered with a smirk, as far as he knew Naruto still had a crush on Sakura. Since he got her and Naruto didn't this made him feel like he had won over Naruto, which was something he had tried to do since their first chuunin exam.

"Oh, good for you guys" Naruto said after finally getting out of his gaze. "Thanks" Sakura said truthfully meaning it. It was at this point that Kiba finally truly noticed that Naruto was back after three years, and that some girl he didn't know was standing there with them. Shikamaru and Shino had of course noticed this but didn't withstand disrupting Kiba. "Who are you?" Kiba asked the red-headed girl standing beside Naruto. "Oh, this is Rin-chan, me and Ero-Sennin met up with her during our training a year ago". "Hello guys" she said happily waving her hand to the three boys. She got only nods from Shikamaru and Shino. Kiba greeted her back with a "Hi Rin-san". "Rin-chan this is Shikamaru and Shino" Naruto said as he was pointing at the boys.

"I think we should go home so you can see were you are going to live these closest days Rin-chan" Sakura then said.

"Hai Haruno-sama" At this all boys except Naruto looked absolutely shocked, ' did she just called her _Haruno-sama_?'

"Please, call me Sakura and no sama"

"Okay.. Sakura-...san" she said looking questioning at Sakura as if to get her confirmation at the suffix. Sakura smiled reassuringly at the girl and then turned to the boys and said good bye. Well a little more than just that to Kiba but still.

When the girls had gotten out of hearing Naruto immediately turned to Kiba and said "If you so much as think about breaking Sakura-chan's heart, I swear to god I will make you wish you were dead!" "Hey, cool down. I won't do anything like that towards her. I love her!" Kiba defended himself. "You do?" Naruto asked surprised "Yeah" "Oh, good!"

"So, what's going on between you and that Rin?" Shikamaru asked suddenly.

"Nothing, we're just friends" Naruto answered his question calmly.

"Really? Have you noticed how hot she is?" Kiba asked him confused.

"Yeah, maybe. But you have to walk on your toes around her. I seriously thinks that she is PMSing all year around" he said in almost a whisper.

"UZUMAKI" they suddenly heard someone exploding 30 meters away.

"And yeah, she has REALLY good hearing" Naruto said before he was suddenly gone surprising the three teenaged boys with his speed.

As Naruto was racing blindly away from Rin she was standing still watching the way he'd run. _'Shit, I got to get out of her reach before she detects my chakra. The only time it really sucks to have this much chakra'. _His tries to get away fast enough were however for nothing. After just a few seconds she had with the help of her Kekkei-genkei located his chakra and now used it to transport him back there. He tried to fight back her jutsu but didn't manage.

"What did you just say?" She asked him with an evil grin plastered on her face when he reached her again.

"Ehh... That you have really good hearing?" He said trying to cover up himself with his arms.

"BEFORE THAT YOU IMBECILE" she now screamed, still with the evil grin on her face.

She now focused some chakra to her right index finger. She then stretched it in to a blue whip. Just as she reached up her hand to strike down at Naruto with her chakra whip something tumbled in to her and she flew away. In her place were now standing ... Hyuuga Hinata.

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Rin stood up and looked angrily at this dark-haired girl that had just knocked her away. Why? Weren't she supposed to get accepted here in Konoha? Just as Naruto. How could this girl possibly know yet anyway?

"Who are you and why were you trying to hurt Naruto-kun?" the girl interrupted her thoughts. Rin just looked at her. So it wasn't because she knew, she just thought she was an enemy that tried to hurt her friend. Rin felt relief shower down on her.

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Hinata watched as the girl's expression went from anger and almost fear to ... relive??? Who was this girl, and how dared she hurt her Naruto-kun? Wait a minute _her _Naruto-kun. She really had to stop that kind of thoughts now that he had gotten home again. Yeah he was back, after three years, and this girl in front of her tried to hurt him. She's going to pay.

As these confused and unsorted thoughts raced trough Hinata's mind Rin had gotten ready to fight. When Hinata saw that she had gotten in to her fighting stance she got ready for the attack.

"BYAKUGAN"

Rin now focused chakra to her index fingers and stretched it out to two whips. Unfortunate for her Hinata was with the byakugan able to se the whips extremely well since they were made out of chakra. That together with her new flexibility she could easily dodge the whips. She dodged her way to the red head and as she did the word "Beautiful" escaped Naruto's lips as a whisper.

Once Hinata reached the girl she jumped up to land a kick right in her face. Now Rin brought up her hand and caught Hinata's leg and tossed her away from her. Just as Hinata had risen once again she hit with her whips again. Hinata didn't have the time to dodge now.

"KAITEN" she screamed as she started to spin. The spinning chakra deflected the whips, and because of the surprise it gave Rin she also lost control over them. Meaning she lost some chakra and her weapons. Hinata now took the opportunity and made sure the girl was within range of her attack.

"Hakke Rokujuuyonshou" (Eight Divination Signs, 64 Strikes)

"TWO STRIKES"

"FOUR STRIKES"

"EIGHT STRIKES"

"SIXTEEN STRIKES"

"THIRTY TWO STRIKES"

"SIXTY FOUR STRIKES"

Every single strike landed and Rin now lay unconscious at her feet. She locked over to Naruto who was still lying on the ground and started to walk towards him.

"You know you really got to stop doing that to strangers Hinata" Kiba suddenly blurted out surprising Hinata and averted her of his presence. "Kiba-kun just shut up" she had, apparently over the years grown some confidence. "N-Naruto-kun, a-are you a-alright?" she asked with a blush starting to form on her face. Apparently she only grew confidence when it came to Kiba, or at least with anyone that weren't Naruto.

"I'm alright, but I don't know about Rin-chan" he said taking Hinata's offered hand and stood up. "Who?" she asked him confused. "Eh…. Her" he said pointing towards the unconscious red head. "She is your friend?" she asked him horrified "I'm so sorry, I didn't recognize her. And she were about to hit you. I just assumed that she was an enemy" she hurriedly tried to explain. "It's alright; I understand why you did it. And it was actually quite fun to see her get beaten" he said to the troubled girl. "Besides, I can fix the fact that she's unconscious" he said as he started to walk towards Rin.

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As Naruto reached Rin he bent down and touched her stomach. As he did he channeled some of the Kuuybi's chakra in to her body. This to overcharge her tenketsus so they would work again. Just as at the chuunin exam three years ago when Neji closed his.

She opened her eyes almost immediately when he did. "What the fuck just happened?" she asked as she slowly sat up and held her head as if she had a headache.

"Hinata-chan just kicked your ass" Naruto happily answered her question.

"Gomenasai, I didn't know you were a friend. I thought you were an enemy".

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Rin quickly noticed the girl's lack of confidence and decided to go easy on her.

"That's alright, it's understandable. I mean you see someone unknown just about to beat up your friend you haven't seen in three years" She said cheerful. "But it defiantly was a good welcome" she said as she raised her hand up to the back of her neck and laughed a little. "Yeah, I guess you should get a better one. My name is Hinata welcome to Konoha" The indigo haired girl then said looking a little more at ease. "Thanks, my name is Rin" she answered thinking that she really liked this girl despite her obvious shyness.

"B-By the way, w-welcome back N-Naruto-kun" Hinata then said as she turned towards the blonde. "Yeah, thanks Hinata-chan" He said happily and stretched out his arms and offered her a hug without forcing himself on to her like with Sakura. Rin saw the slight

blush that now entered Hinata's face. She put that together with the stuttering that she got

as soon as she spoke to Naruto. She was in love with the imbecile.

**A/N: Do not ask me what happened with Sakura when Hinata arrived, I don't know myself XD.**

**Hope you got that it was Hinata that was the warm welcoming.**

**Now, please R&R. If you want to flame please do so, but don't flame my choice of pairings or the plot so to speak. Flame my grammar, choice of words or maybe the length of the chapters. If you still yet want to flame ... let's say the plot, then please, PLEASE come with something constructive and add tips to how it could be instead. Because just flaming something I can't or don't want to change sucks. Just don't read it in that case! **


	2. A bugging fight

Disclaimer: I still don't own anything else then OCs (Rin) or the storyline to this particular Fanfic.

Well thanks for my first and only review Chaos Jester Power. Of course also thanks to those who wants to read more (I was thinking about story alert). Now I was planning to wait with uploading the second chapter so that I wouldn't upload almost every chapter immediately and then wait long between every chapter. I have just started to write on the seventh chapter actually, so myself am ahead with the writing. Well well, you probably aren't too interested in this so let's just get on with the next chapter.

One more thing first, I forgot to mention the differences between the lines.

This:

---------------------------------- seen from another persons P.O.V. (Then of course it's always authors actually but still :P)

and this:

A minor time jump

Now the second chapter.

Chapter 2: A bugging fight.

After the incident with Hinata beating Rin, Naruto and Hinata walked away. They were going the same way while Rin were going with Sakura the opposite way.

"Hey, Hinata-chan that was really good of you to dodge her whips" Naruto said after a while of walking.

"Thanks Naruto-kun, but it was quite easy for me to se them with my Byakugan"

"Just because you see them doesn't mean you can avoid them. With her Kekkei-genkei she has a 100 control over them at all time. It is hard to do what you did, trust me I have tried" He then continued complement her.

They continued walking until they came to the place where their ways separated. "It's good to have you back Naruto-kun. It has been so quiet without you" Hinata said as she looked Naruto in the eyes. For once she convinced herself not to look away from those blue orbs. This stunned Naruto, he had never actually got a good look of her eyes. For a moment he almost got lost in them before he remembered that he should answer her. "Yeah, It's good to be home Hinata-chan" He said smiling. "Ja ne".

The next day Naruto and Rin were going to train for their respective tests. When they got to training ground seven they however found that it was already occupied by a new genin-team. So they decided to train later instead.

On their way back they met Sakura, she was on her way to training ground eight to meet Kiba. "I don't think they would mind you coming along to train as well"

"You think that would be alright? In that case it would be great" Naruto said and they then went with Sakura to training ground eight.

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Where is that girl? I really got to find her and beat her. I will not lose to her again. Especially not this time when Sakura-chan was coming to train with them. Then of course since Naruto has gotten home she should be even more determined to get stronger, so it should be harder than usual. As Kiba looked around he smelled the sweet sent of his girlfriend. She was here, he had to find Hinata quickly. Oh crap, Naruto was with her. As soon as Hinata would see him Kiba would most surely lose, and with her byakugan it wouldn't take long before she detected him. He decided to get away from his place on the branch. As usual when they were training he was alone, no Akamaru here to help him locate her. This to train his own strength, his and Akamaru's strength together he trained at home with others from the Inuzuka clan.

Suddenly he detected her sent, he ran towards it. He found her about 500 meters away in a clearing. She was standing still in the middle of it looking at him. Shit, she had seen Naruto and now wanted to get this over with. He walked in to the clearing and stopped a few steps in to it. "So you have noticed him haven't you?" He said to the determined looking girl. "Hai, and I have a request. Let's make this a taijutsu fight, I want to work on mine" She said calmly before they charged each other.

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They immediately got in to a close combat dodging and parrying the others attacks. After a while they both retreated and jumped to the branches and started to almost race each other. Hinata took fort three shuriken and threw them at Kiba. He easily dodged the first two, and then threw one of his own to parry her third one. This race continued until they got out from the trees to an open area. This is where the rest was standing now able to watch the two of them. They went in to another close combat, Kiba got the overhand. Hinata easily avoided his attacks but because of that she couldn't get in an attack of her own. So she jumped back a long jump hoping he would predict just another short jump. He did so she they were now standing with distance between them. They then charged each other again, this time for Hinata to get the upper hand.

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Naruto and the others stood and watched as the fight continued that way. First close combat until someone got the upper hand and the other one jumped away to gain space.

The audience soon lost count on how many times they had been in close combat. The two combats started to get slower and slower also. The few shurikens that now were thrown didn't need to get avoided or parried. They were too tired to be able to do aim properly or do any harm to each other at all.

Then just after Kiba had jumped away from Hinata they didn't charge each other. They just stood there swaying slowly. Then at the exact same moment both fell down collapsing from tiredness and chakra loss. "Kiba-kun" Sakura called as she ran to her unconscious boyfriend. Naruto ran to Hinata "Oi, Hinata-chan wake up" he said shaking her slightly. "Hnn.. Just a few more minutes" she mumbled. Other than that Naruto could forget any response from the girl. "They just need to rest up a bit and they will be fine. Maybe I should keep a look at them tough" Sakura said. So they moved them to where Shino and Rin were standing. Sakura had managed to get some response from Kiba, so she didn't have to carry him. Just half drag him. Naruto on the other hand picked Hinata up bridal style and carried her to the others.

Now Naruto or Rin were to train. "Maybe I should train, so Hinata has some company when she wakes up" Rin said with a smirk, but not to embarrass Hinata too much she also added "Because I think you're better company for her then me since she don't know me, and I don't think that they would be that good of a company" as she pointed towards Sakura and Kiba. Kiba was leaning against a tree as Sakura was sitting between his legs leaning against him. "Yeah, you're probably right Rin-chan" Naruto said secretly happy to get some lone time with Hinata. He'd had a hard time trying to stop thinking about her and of how she looked as she dodged Rin's attacks the other day. Her fight with Kiba just now didn't help either. So because of that Rin were to fight Shino.

It started of with Rin as usual focused chakra in to her index fingers and stretched it in to whips. Shino then let fort his Kikaichu and in the fighting let some of them on to the whips. They immediately started to eat away at this chakra feast. Since Rin didn't know that these bugs were chakra eaters she did however not noticed they eating at it.

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As Rin and Shino were fighting Hinata started to regain consciousness, she were leaning against a tree with Naruto sitting beside her. "What happened?" she asked. "Oi, so you're awake now Hinata-chan? He he, you and Kiba-kun fought so long that you guys got exhausted and you both passed out. At the exact same moment on top of that too" The blonde boy answered her question. "How are you feeling by the way?" he then asked her. First now when she thought about it she felt how sore her body was, and she was really tired. "I feel really tired, and whole my body is sore, but otherwise I feel fine" she said adding the last part so he wouldn't worry too much. "Well it's understandable that you're tired after that". She now sat up more but continued to lean against the tree, she felt her eyelids closing but focused to stay awake. Naruto that noticed this then said "I hope you don't think you have to stay awake for my sake, if you want to you could just fall asleep again" "It's alright I don't have any problem staying awake" Hinata answered him feeling that it wasn't true. "I can see that you're tired Hinata-chan, I really don't mind if you sleep. I always have the fight to look at" _'And if that gets boring there's always you'_. He added in his thoughts. Hinata still insisted on staying awake, so they watched the fight together. After just a short while Naruto looked over at her and saw her sleeping.

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Rin had at this point noticed the fact that Shino's bugs ate chakra and understood that he had a natural advantage. Not that it mattered, she would beat him anyway. Then it was the annoying part of her unable to form the chakra to avoid the bugs' mouths. Usually when it was something that broke down or stole chakra she could just form the chakra to avoid it, but these bugs where just too small for her to be able to do so. She was so going to train more with him, so she could learn to control her chakra good enough to avoid those bugs.

She then landed a hit at him with one of her whips _'Yes, finally' _she thought until the Shino she hit turned in to bugs and disappeared. Shit, it was a bug clone, and now she didn't know where he was. Even worse, with his bugs he had made her lose a whole lot of chakra. She wasn't used to that so she started to feel tired of the loss. Then of course, she always could always use that.

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Naruto thought Rin started to look tired. Shit, maybe he had to stop her. Then of course if he did because he _thought _that she had to little of her own chakra she would get pissed. He had to _know_. He turned towards Hinata and carefully shook her and said "Hinata-chan" to wake her up. She slowly opened her eyes and looked at him. "I'm sorry Hinata-chan but can you _pleas_e look how much chakra Rin has left. It's really important" Naruto asked her. When Hinata heard the urge in his voice and especially that please she understood how important it was and did as he asked.

"Byakugan" she said as she looked at Rin, she quickly saw that her chakra was almost to none. "She's almost out of it" She told Naruto. "Shit, just as I suspected" he answered and then stood up. He walked towards Rin and called out to her "Rin" Hinata wondered what happened to the suffix at the end of the name, why just Rin?

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Rin heard Naruto call out to her. She understood that she should listen to him because of the lack of chan at the ending. "Yeah, what is it?" she asked him. "Give up, you have too little chakra left" he said in a demanding tone that he didn't use often, and of course only reserved to her. She hated that tone, as soon as she heard it she wanted to hurt whoever used it. It was an instinct from her childhood. Over this last year however she had learned to suppress it. "How can you be so sure about that?" She asked him with palpable annoyance in her voice. "I asked Hinata-chan, her Byakugan can see chakra" he calmly answered her question, but without losing the demanding tone. "You know very well that I'm not out of chakra" she said, now sounding almost angry. Damn it was hard to suppress the instinct to kill him right now. Her eyes on the other hand looked at him as if to tell him something. It was then she heard his voice inside his head _'they do not know of that'_. She looked at him with a mix of surprise, anger and fear in her eyes. "But you said …. Did you lie to me?" she said out loud, refusing to do as he. Naruto understood that he would only anger her more if he would speak in to her mind, so he spoke out loud as well. "I never lied to you, what I said was true. The Hokage did accept you, didn't she? She did make you a shinobi of Konoha" Naruto answered her just as calm and just as demanding. "So they really don't know?" She asked him suspiciously. To this he only shook his head slowly. "You Bastard" was all she said. Then she charged him. She was so angry that she just started hitting at him. "You ... said……that…….I …… would …..be" she said between the punches and kicks. In difference to the day before Naruto now calmly dodged her attacks. "I know what I said Rin, and as I said I did not lie to you". He then grasped her wrist, turned her around so her back was pressed against his front. He still held her wrist, now against her back. His other arm was around her neck. "Now calm down, you don't want to get out of chakra when you're angry" he said without loosing his hold on her. Rin however didn't feel like calming down, so she tried to regain her freedom, but without success. _'Do not forget that I live with the same fear as you. But mine is greater, you always had your family when you were little. I was alone. Now for once I have friends, do you really think that I would tell them something like that and make them afraid of me?' _She then heard him say in her thoughts.

Hinata wondered what had happened. First Naruto told Rin to stop fighting. Rin refused and said something about that he of all should know she wasn't out of chakra. Then she said something about him lying to her. He claimed he didn't and that the Hokage did accept her just as he had said. Then she said something about that they didn't know and then charged at him. Then Naruto told her to calm down, that she didn't want to run out of chakra when she was angry. She didn't listen and then out of nowhere she looked almost afraid and like she just remembered something at the same time. Then she relaxed and Naruto let go of her. Hinata could see the sadness in both of their eyes, and she even thought she could see a hint of tears in Rin's eyes. "Will you ever tell them?" Rin then asked Naruto. "Someday, someday" Naruto answered almost sounding tired.

Hinata really wondered what happened but knew better than to ask. After all it really seemed like the people that they talked about, that didn't know something, was a matter of fact her and the others.

Naruto and Rin had then taken off; they said they needed to discuss something. The others also left then. Hinata had a hard time letting go off what had happened. Even after she had gotten home, therefore she now walked right in to someone that she hadn't noticed. "Summimasen" she said as she looked up. _'Only Neji' _She thought when she saw who it was. She really didn't feel like getting scolded by her father for not paying attention, even if he only meant well. She was also tired of seeing the other clan members' looks now that she was on trial. The Hyuuga council thought that Hinata was too weak to be the heiress. Her father on the other hand had seen how much progress she had made these past three years, and how hard she had worked. Since both had much to say they couldn't ignore either one. Therefore she was now on trial, that's why she had started to get scolded by her father again. When she was young it was because of her weakness. Now it was because he wanted her to succeed.

"Oh, hi Neji-niisan" she then said. "Hello Hinata-sama, are you alright? You seem a little distant" he then asked her. "I'm fine Neji-niisan". "Ok, bye then" "Ja ne".

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Neji was worried about his cousin. She really had a lot to think about now with the trial. He really wished they let her become the Heiress, he really thought that she would become a good one now. He didn't always, but first Naruto had convinced him that people could change. Then Hinata had convinced him that _she_ could change. He also really wished that Naruto would learn of Hinata's feelings for him. Hopefully his denseness had at least gone down a bit over these three years.

**A/N: Well that was the second chapter, hop you enjoyed. Please R&R, the "rules" about flaming still applies :D. Hope you all have it good! Not too long before the third chapter, if anybody shows that they still want to read it of course :P **


	3. Watching the stars and real training

**Disclaimer: I don't own shit, only my OCs and the storyline for this fanfic **

**A/N: Well, once again I was planning on waiting but once again didn't feel like it. Why? Well because of all the WONDERFUL mails you get after uploading a chapter about story alerts, favs and the few reviews. PLEASE review more:D**

**Now on with the story.**

Chapter 3: Watching the stars and real training.

That night Hinata couldn't sleep, so she went for a walk instead. As usual when this happened she went to the top of the Hokage monument. It happened quite often too.

When she got to the monument however she saw that somebody was already there. The blonde boy was watching the stars. "Hello Hinata-chan" he said without turning around. He then turned his head looking smiling at her. "Why don't you come and sit" he said patting the ground beside him. She did as he suggested.

"Can't sleep?" he asked her. "No, looks like you can't either"

"Nope, it's rarely that I can"

"Same goes with me" she then said before they went quiet. It was a soothing and nice silence. Hinata was actually a little surprised about that, Naruto had always been the loudmouth that had a hard time with silence. Still yet here she was enjoying a silence together with him. Even more surprising was the fact that she was the first one to break it, eager to talk to her secret crush when she now got the opportunity.

"So, how was your three years abroad? I don't think I have asked yet" She asked him. In reality she wanted to ask about this afternoon, but she kept away from the subject.

"Tuff, then of course I got stronger by it, so I guess it was worth it" he answered her question with a smile.

"How was your three years then? Anything special that happened?" He then asked her.

"They were quite good, nothing special happened, nothing that you can't count in to a shinobi's life" She answered him, avoiding the fact that she had gotten on trial.

"Okay"

"By the way, how did you meet Rin-san?" She then asked him.

"Oh, that's a long story" Naruto said avoiding.

"Oh" Hinata said getting the hint. So they went quiet again and just sat watching out over the village (a/n they're sitting with their feet over the edge). Then suddenly Hinata laid down instead. Now with her gaze at the stars. Naruto looked over at the lying form off the girl. She looked so much at peace there beside him that it made him wish that it would happen again.

"I just love watching the stars, my mom used to take me doing it" Hinata then said to him. "She doesn't anymore?"

"No, she died giving birth to Hanabi-nee-chan" Hinata said with sorrow in her voice.

"I'm sorry"

"Don't be, it happened so long ago. Sure I still miss her, but not as much anymore"

"And as soon as I miss her I just need to watch the stars and it feels like she's here again" she then said a little more cheerful. "I usually don't think about the stars that much, I know they're beautiful, but I don't feel it. Then at night when I turn my head up towards them I just get lost right away. It's just too beautiful for one to understand" she said with a dreaming thing over her voice.

"Really, I never really thought about them" he answered her. "Then why don't you now?" she asked him motioning for him to lie down beside her. He did as she wished, they were now laying down on top of the Hokage monument watching the stars.

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Rin were standing in some bushes watching the couple. Just as them she had a hard time sleeping and decided to take a walk. In some way she had gotten to the top of the monument. There she found Hinata and Naruto sitting next to each other looking at the village. Then Hinata had lain down and they started to talk about the stars.

Rin especially looked at Naruto, she wondered if she had ever seen him this calm and this happy at the same time. She strongly doubted it; this girl really had some kind of spell over him. The worst part was that he probably wasn't aware of the fact that he had the same effect on Hinata as well. Maybe she should do something about that fact. Rin got a little smirk on her lips as she thought about it. That's when she saw that Naruto laid down beside the indigo haired girl. She didn't know what to do yet, so she just observed the two to get ideas for later.

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Naruto enjoyed Hinata's company. He didn't know exactly what it was, but she had some soothing effect on him. Like he didn't need to make her acknowledge him, like she already had all on her own. He looked over at her and got stuck in her eyes, even though she was looking up at the stars. Her eyes wasn't as white as the rest of the Hyuugas', they had a lavender tint over them that was just beautiful. She noticed him looking and turned her gaze towards him. Their eyes locked and none of them could look away.

Hinata didn't even blush because of the shock she got from it. Naruto then said something that even he didn't suspect he would. His thoughts right then.

"So, you lose yourself in the stars? Kind of like I do right now in your eyes?"

This shocked Hinata so much that she started to blush. Naruto got so shocked about what he said that he also blushed. After a while in this new embarrassed silence it got too much for Hinata and she fainted.

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Rin couldn't believe her ears. Did he just say what she thought he did? When she saw them lock in each others eyes she was to do something. Maybe enter his mind and make him think that what she said was his thoughts. She didn't however, she didn't have the time. He said something _out loud_ before she even entered his mind. What a thing to say too. It even made the other girl faint. Then of course, not even Rin - who had spent the last year with Naruto - could even dream of him even thinking something like that. Therefore she could only imagine what a shock it should have been for the other girl.

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Naruto wasn't very surprised by Hinata's reaction; she had after all fainted around him earlier. So he saying something like that should make her faint. He was pleased that she did since that meant he didn't have to explain himself. At the same time he wasn't, since he also wanted to know now what she felt. His own words had made him realize that he did in fact, like the girl.

Well what other to do than take her home. So he picked her up bridal style and ran of towards the Hyuuga compound. When he got there he stopped on the rooftop and woke Hinata up. "Hinata, which window is your room?" he whispered to her, so they wouldn't get detected. That would be just nice; The Kyuubi container comes carrying an unconscious Hyuuga heiress. "What? My room? Ehh .. that one" she said pointing at one of the windows. Then she remembered what Naruto had said, and realized that he was carrying her. "Eeh.. you know you don't have to carry me any more" she said blushing a little. "Yeah I know that, but I kind of want do so" he answered he. This only made Hinata blush even more. Soon she would be able to rival a tomato when it came to being red. Naruto jumped to her window. It was open since that was the way she had gone out trough in first place. He put her down in her room and she turned to him. They were now standing watching each other in an awkward silence. "I.." they both said at the exact same time. To this both of them laughed nervously. "I really had a good time, but I'm sorry for what I said earlier. I really shouldn't have" Naruto then said before Hinata could speak. "Don't be! I'm actually glad that you did say it" Hinata said. This stunned Naruto a little bit. Did Hinata really said that she was glad he had said it? He then shocked both of them again by giving Hinata a quick kiss on the cheek before turning around and speeding away.

Hinata were standing holding her hand over the spot Naruto's lips had touched her. Now she really did out rival a tomato. Did Naruto just kiss her on the cheek. When she realized that he indeed had a big grin slowly spread across her face. _Oh my god, Naruto-kun just kissed me on the cheek. Does that mean he likes me?_

The next morning Naruto woke up to the sound of someone banging on the door.

"WAKE UP YOUR IMBECILE" could be heard from the other side of it. He got out of the bed yawning and went to open his door. On the other side an annoyed Rin was standing.

"Do you have any idea how long I stood there banging on the door?" she asked him irritated. "Sorry for not being a morning person" he said tiredly walking to his kitchen before her. "Well maybe if you actually slept at night instead of going on your damn walks it would be easier to get up in the morning" she said biting her tongue after wards, hoping that he wouldn't get that she had been spying the night before.

Naruto looked suspiciously at her, but she didn't show any signs of knowing of last night so he let it pass. "You know very well why I take those walks" he then said now sounding just as annoyed as her. He then took his now ready instant ramen and sat down at the table opposite from Rin.

"So are we training alone today or what?" she asked him.

"Yeah, I want to do some real training without risking anything" he said putting in a bite of ramen after. "I talked to Oba-chan, she will make sure nobody will train at training ground seven today. So no genin-team there now" He then added after a bite. To this a satisfied smile entered her face.

So when he finished his breakfast they went to training ground seven. Just as Naruto had said there was no one there this day. After warming up they decided to do some serious training.

Naruto put his hand up in his trade-mark seal and calmly said "Tajyuu Kage Bunshin no Jutsu". Immediately a couple of hundred of Narutos were made. They formed a huge circle with Rin in the middle of it. Now Rin threw up her large knife with her left hand. In the air she captured it with her right hand in eye-level. With her arm stretched out in front of her holding the large knife. What now happened would have stunned anybody who didn't expect it. Naruto did. The knife was immediately covered in her chakra, with her kekkei-genkei she stretched it out to a long sword. She now held a large chakra covered knife that looked like a blue sword. Since it was made of chakra nothing – except maybe something like Shino's bugs that ate chakra – could destroy it.

Now all the Narutos attacked her and she attacked back. Dodging and parrying all the attacks and at the same time hitting them with her sword. They all disappeared one after one. Soon there was only she and the real Naruto left, he still hadn't attacked her.

"Why did you put so little chakra in to them?" she asked him. "I wanted to save some to this" he answered her. "Now put away that sword so we can fight" he then said. She did as he said, and then the two charged each other.

They got in to a close combat. After a couple of minutes Rin kicked Naruto five meters away. As soon as he had stood up he saw the smirk on her lips. She showed him that she had trapped him with a chakra string around his ankle. He looked down at it and then looked up at her. He swallowed before she pulled the string. He went in to the air and passed her in to a tree. As he hit the tree however he disappeared. Fuck, a shadow clone.

She tried to detect his chakra but couldn't find it at first. Then after a while she felt something chakra like flicker about 50 meters away in the forest. She knew instantly that Naruto had made her feel him at purpose. It often happened, but it didn't stop her from going there.

On her way to where Naruto should have been however she was attacked. Naruto jumped out from behind a tree kicking Rin in to another one. She stood up looking at him. As she did she saw a smirk enter his face. She charged him with a kick towards his face, he ducked. When he stood up and turned around again he tried to hit her in the back, but she jumped up again before he could do so.

This way it continued with them dodging each others blows for at least 10 minutes. Until Naruto told Rin it was enough.

"I think we're both low enough on chakra to get on to the training" he told her.

"Okay, where are we doing it?" she asked him.

"The other side of this forest. It's a big field that doesn't belong to any training ground. We will be alone, and those who still can feel the chakra will know what's going on".

They then started to run trough the forest with Naruto in the lead. Because of the chakra they pumped to their feet they got trough it in just matter of seconds.

Once there they stood facing each other in the middle of the field. They started to focus chakra. Soon strange chakra engulfed them both.

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Meanwhile Kakashi and Iruka had just shared a passionate kiss in a dark alley. As Kakashi walked away - leaving Iruka behind so they wouldn't get detected - he suddenly felt a big evil chakra at the far end of the training grounds. No, it wasn't just one; it was two huge really evil chakras. What was that? Then he remembered that Tsunade had told him that Naruto were to train today, without interference. If it was Naruto however, then why were there two chakras?

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Hinata was training at the Hyuuga compound with Neji. They were training their Jyuuken, but without releasing any chakra into the other person.

As usual Neji had the upper-hand. How strong Hinata got he still yet would be the Hyuuga prodigy. This meant that as soon as they trained any Hyuuga technique he would be the stronger one. As they were training some other guys from the Branch family came watching them. Neji had at that point forced Hinata into a corner. He threw a punch at her face but stopped just centimeters away, it was merely to show that he had won. He then stepped back from Hinata with her standing still up against the wall.

As he did one of the other guys spoke up.

"Hey Neji, want to do some real training instead?"

"Thanks, but I am already training for real" he answered them monotonously.

"Really, she doesn't look like she can put up much force"

"That's alright Neji-niisan, go train with them. I need to do some other training anyway" Hinata then said making the other guys look at her for the first time.

"Gomenasai Hinata-sama we didn't see it was you!" they then said in unison with a slight hint of fear in their voices. They also bowed deeply to her as they spoke.

"That's alright; I actually like to hear what people really think of me. It feels much more honest. Not like, oh I don't know… maybe pretending to respect somebody" she said to them with a smile. She then walked past them and out of the compound without looking back at them or Neji.

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Tsunade looked up at the green eyed girl in front her. Did she just say she were to train with that boy Inuzuka Kiba again? The blonde woman thought.

"The hell you are Sakura! For once you are going to do some real training again. Together with me, you have been slacking of lately" she told the girl.

"But Shishou I have already decided with Kiba. He is waiting for me" the girl complained.

"I don't care about what you have told that boyfriend of yours, just cancel on him or something" she waved the girl's complaints of.

Tsunade told Shizune that she was taking the rest of the day of. They then walked out to cancel with Kiba and of course to do some real training.

**A/N: Well, I guess the ending wasn't a cliffhanger, but it still contained one, hehe. So how many of you have figured out what's up with Rin now:P **

**Well well, til' next time PLEASE review:D hopefully, Ja Ne**


	4. Secrets revealed

**Discaimer: I don't own Naruto**

**A/N: Thanks for all the wonderful reviews guys! It really makes you super happy to get them and just makes you wanna write even more:D I'm so gonna start to review like every story I read :P **

**So, on to the fourth chapter, a little more about Rin in this one now :D Hop that'll make all you guys happy!**

Chapter 4: Secrets revealed

Rin felt the powerful chakra rush trough her body. She loved the feeling. The feeling of total power, the feeling of that nothing could stand in her way. She knew she shouldn't, it wasn't her power. Most of all it wasn't a good power. It was a power she should detest, but she wasn't like Naruto. He was almost too good for his own good. He found it natural to detest the power, she really had to try to do it. Still yet she didn't quite manage. Maybe it had something to do with her not wanting to be like her family. She was tired of being detested by others. She didn't need herself to do it also.

"That's enough of it" Naruto told her.

"Why? You focused much more chakra" she answered him a little bit angry.

"Well I'm used to a lot of chakra just on my own. You aren't, therefore you got to slowly learn to adjust to it. Otherwise you will lose yourself in it! Haven't we gone trough this before?" he told her.

"How will I ever be able to train for real with this if I can't stretch the limits?" she then asked him.

"You are already stretching the limits too much"

"Ah, just shut up and let's get on with this!" she then told him.

He did as she had said and shut up. They now charged each other one more time. Now however they made much more damage to their surroundings. Just from a usual punch that missed could create a crater. At the same time chakra flew everywhere. Naruto's red chakra and Rin's grey one created minor explosions all over in the air when they collided. This did however not stop the two, this is what always happened when they were training for real.

They were now also moving at incredible speed. It was almost impossible for a normal person to see the two with the mere eye.

Naruto jumped away from Rin with his back towards her. He reached down for a shuriken, in the air he turned around and threw it at her. She however took it in her hand and threw it back at him. It hit him, but it turned out he was just a shadow clone. Another Naruto then jumped up from the ground behind Rin planting a kick in the back of her head. He didn't wait for her to get up until he attacked her again. This time however he was stopped by a grey chakra shield that she threw up. He landed on it and as soon as she was out of the way she removed the shield. Naruto fell down on the ground. Rin jumped at him with a kunai in hand, but was stopped by a kunai in Naruto's hand. There they were, both with a kunai in hand. Naruto on his back, Rin positioned over him, both of them trying to force the other one's kunai away. Then Naruto took up his hand and started focusing chakra in to a spiral in it. Soon he had a glowing and spinning orb in his palm.

"RASENGAN" he screamed as he trusted it upwards towards the girl. This forced Rin to release her hold on the Kunai and once again make a chakra shield. The clash between the Rasengan and the shield created such an explosion that when it was over, Rin and Naruto were laying 100 meters away from each other in a big crater.

There weren't any strange chakras visible anymore. There were just Rin and Naruto. None of them were unconscious, the chakra had protected them from any real damage.

As they walked towards each other Rin started to laugh.

"What a freakin' bang" she managed to say between the laughs. Naruto answered her laughs with an angry look.

"You have to be kidding me Rin! You really think that _that _was funny? You have to take the Hachibi's power more seriously" the blonde boy almost screamed at the end. Why couldn't she understand that it was dangerous to take it too lightly?

His outburst made Rin stop laughing. She looked at him with the same look in her eyes now.

"I am taking it seriously! But you have to see what an opportunity this is for us. To have this kind of power to our use"

"Do you want it to go free? For you to die and at the same time let a monster go free? Or even worse, become that monster yourself?" Naruto then asked her, just as angry but without screaming. To this Rin didn't know what to say, she never had. They always had this conversation after each "real" training. She always laughed and he always asked her that question then, the conversation had never gone any further. They had packed up and gone pack to camp each time quietly instead. This time weren't any different.

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Rin had never understood how Naruto could handle the Kyuubi and how he was treated because of it. Just as him she had been treated badly because of her inner demon. She had been an outcast in her family, despite the fact that it was them that had made her to this.

Naruto however hadn't just been an outcast, but had been beaten almost to death more then once. Still yet he had forgiven the villagers, she couldn't forgive her family however.

When Rin was borned the Hachibi had been sealed inside of her. Not because of a reason like the Yondaime's, but merely for power. Her clan had wanted a prodigy of their own, somebody with immense power. So they took the leaders eldest daughter and sealed the second strongest bijuu in her. Rin was because of that the container of the eight tailed wolf Hachibi. Just as they had wanted she contained great power, power most people could only dream of. She was however not as powerful as they had wished for, she only contained the power. The first time she even showed any sign of the power was when she was four and lost almost all of her chakra. Suddenly she was filled with an immense amount of chakra. This was the thing with the container of Hachibi. The person was filled with the bijuu's chakra as soon as it ran out on its own. When she was four she couldn't control it however. She did much damage to the clan's home before they got her under control. Therefore she was almost feared and was from that day on watched over like a hawk by someone strong in the clan. Over the years she was trained to control the power. Then at the age of eight she had had enough. She ran away from home and was alone for six long years before she met Naruto. During these years she started to rethink about her Clan. Maybe it wasn't that bad? At the same time she knew deep down inside that it was just that she didn't like being alone, and that the clan was better then that. Because of that knowledge she didn't return to her family but stayed abroad and astray.

Friday at lunchtime Hinata and Kiba where eating lunch together at Ichiraku's Ramen.

"You know Hinata-chan, you have to do something about your Naruto situation" Kiba said to the girl.

"What do you mean Kiba-kun?"

"Well as we all except he knows you are in love with him. And now he is back after three years, dangerously close to this hot girl, but still yet not taken by her, according to him. Here you are at the age of 15 hotter then ever, he can easily be yours. But only if you work for it and work for it now" He then said. This made the girl blush and look down at the so interesting floor. She really didn't like to talk about this, especially not the part with Rin. Then she remembered Wednesday night and started to smile a little bit. This did however go unnoticed by Kiba.

"I know you don't like to talk about it. But I'm doing it for your sake, I'm tired of seeing you miserable" he continued now looking at his food once again. Hinata just continued smiling then she spoke "You're right Kiba-kun, I have to do something about it". Kiba now looked at her shocked. He had more then once brought up the subject, but never once had the timid girl actually agreed with him. She had just started to blush and quietly asked him to talk about something else the other times. He wondered what had made the change.

"So, what are you going to do about it then?" he asked her when he realized that it was his time to speak if he didn't want the conversation to die.

"I don't know yet, maybe tell him how I feel or something. Now however I need to go. Otou-sama wanted to train with me personally today" she said getting up and walking out of the Ramen shop after paying her bill. After a while Kiba followed her example and went for home.

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Naruto had been standing around the corner and accidently heard their conversation. _Hinata is in love with me?_ As he stood there thinking Hinata came out of the shop and went right in to him. To prevent her from falling he reached out an arm around her waist.

As they stunned stood in that position with Hinata pressed up against his chest and his arms around her, Kiba came out of the shop. Stopping dead in his track.

"N-n-n-n-nani?" he said pointing at them unable to get anything else out.

This made Hinata and Naruto get back to reality and jumped quickly away from each other. This was however a big mistake, in their hurry Naruto forgot about his arms. This made them pump into each other because his arms pulled them back in towards each other. They the fell over because of the force, Naruto was now laying on his back with Hinata on top of him, still with his arms around her waist. This shocked them once more out of reality, and once more Kiba brought them back to earth.

"Well, that went fast didn't it?" he said in a teasing kind of way.

They both now blushed and Naruto quickly released his hold on the girl. Hinata jumped up quickly once she regained her freedom. Leaving Naruto lying on the ground alone to slowly get up. "Gomenasai" they said in unison to each other. Kiba just stood there snickering a little bit.

'_What should I do, if she's in love with me? Do I love her? No, I like her, but I don't think I'm in love with her' _Naruto thought as he stood there nervously laughing and rubbing the back of his neck the way just Naruto can.

"So, I didn't even know you guys were dating. And then I walk in on you guys laying on top of each other. How come you kept it a secret?" Kiba then teased them.

His words made them both blush, but they didn't made Hinata speechless however.

"Quit that shit Kiba! You're just too much sometimes, you know that? Now I need to go. Sorry Naruto-kun that I bumped in to you it wasn't on purpose, have a good day Ja Ne"

"You sure you didn't do it on purpose?" Kiba mumbled earning a blood-freezing look from Hinata.

"That's alright Hinata, it was just as much my fault. Have a good day you too, Ja Ne" Naruto said to Hinata a little shocked by the sudden confidence the girl had gain towards Kiba. The blonde had never expected to her such words come from the timid girl in front of him, and still yet he had just heard them.

As Hinata walked away Naruto and Kiba was standing there looking at each other. Kiba had a little smirk on his face.

"So, from what I saw I guess you liked her little secret about you" he then asked Naruto.

"You knew I heard?"

"Of course, I smelled you" he answered pointing towards his nose.

"It was the reason i brought up the subject. I'm tired of seeing a close friend like her miserable. And since she wasn't going to say something herself I thought I could say it for her, so to speak. What ever you might think I didn't do it to be mean. So if you hurt her now I'm going to fucking neuter you" he then added sounding more and more serious. Without waiting for Naruto's response he walked away towards his home.

That morning Rin didn't feel like seeing Naruto after yesterday. So she didn't go and bang on his door that Friday morning. She usually didn't fell like meeting him when they had had that conversation. So she went to train on her own.

Since she wasn't sure of which training ground was which she accidentally went wrong. She went up just in the forest at no training ground at all. After a while of walking she realized that she was lost. Shit, why did these things always happen to her?

Then she felt somebody close. When she felt it she recognized it, but she couldn't say exactly whose it was. So she started to walk towards it. When she reached it she saw somebody hooded standing looking at a caterpillar. "Shino-kun?" she said trying to get his attention. The boy turned around, and showed that it was in fact Shino.

"Hello, Rin-san" he answered her.

"What are you doing?" she asked him.

"I'm looking for bugs" he answered her in a monotone voice. She walked closer to him also looking at the caterpillar.

"Oh, are you finding any?"

"Yes" he said and turned around again. When he was done with the caterpillar he turned around to find Rin still standing there. This he wasn't used to, most people didn't even stop to talk, and if they did just as Rin now had they often went away again soon.

"Did you want anything special?" he asked her looking a little bit confused at her.

"Ehm.. Actually, I'm lost" the girl said blushing a little bit from the embarrassment.

"Oh, well it's hard to explain with words the way out. I could show you, but that means you have to follow me when I'm looking for bugs a while"

"How long is a while?" she asked him.

"Maybe some hour or two"

She was going to say that he could just point at which way first. Then she remembered that she had no reason to go back yet, since she still didn't want to talk to Naruto. She also wanted to ask him if they could train, she really wanted to be able to avoid those bugs.

"That's alright, I can go with you. If that is alright with you of course?"

"Yeah, otherwise I probably wouldn't have suggested it" he said.

So Rin started to walk after Shino as he was looking for bugs. After a while she started to feel a little bit suffocated by the silence. So she broke it by asking about it.

"Do we like scare the bugs if we talk or is it okay for me to talk?" she asked him.

"No, it's okay to talk"

"Okay, good 'cause I have a hard time with silence. Especially right now"

"Okay, how come?" he asked her getting the fact that he shouldn't be quiet like he used to.

"How come what? That I don't like silence or why it's extra hard with it right now?"

"Both"

"Okay, well I guess I have a hard time with silence because I was alone for six years. And why it's extra right now is probably because it makes me think of mine and Naruto's last conversation, I don't want to do that" she answered him.

"Since you don't want to think about it I'm guessing that you don't want to talk about it either"

"You guess absolutely right". They then went quiet again. Rin guessed that she was probably the one that would have to keep the conversation alive with this guy.

"So, I was wondering if maybe we could train together sometime. I really want to learn to avoid those bugs with my chakra" she asked him after a while.

"Hnn" was all the response she could get. Shino had seen an unusual beetle in a branch. He almost ran of towards it showing a side of him not often showed. When he reached it he saw that it wasn't the beetle he thought it was. It was actually the most common beetle in all of Konoha. You could easily see the disappointment in his body language. He turned around and looked at Rin.

"You were saying?" he asked her with the same disappointment in his voice.

"Ehm... if we could train sometime. What is it, you seem disappointed" she said.

"No, nothing special. I just thought that I saw a very rare beetle. But it turned out to be the most common one. They look very alike" he explained.

"Oh, I see" she said sounding understanding.

"No you don't, but that's okay I don't expect anybody to understand when it comes to bugs" he said.

"Okay you're right. I don't quite understand"

"Oh yeah, you wondered if we could train sometime, right?" he then asked her.

"Yeah, I want to learn how to avoid your bugs with my chakra" she then explained.

"Sure, if that's what you want I could actually lend you some bugs right now. Then you can train as I am looking for bugs" he said.

"That sounds like a good beginning" she said happily. To this Shino nodded. As he did some bugs came out of his sleeve and flew towards Rin. Rin concentrated some chakra in to her hands until they glowed with a bright blue color. As she did the bugs flew to her hand. They then started to walk again. Rin now concentrated on the bugs on her hand.

As they walked there Shino started to steel glances at the girl. Kiba had been right when he said that she looked good four days ago when she arrived. With that fiery red hair she immediately stole your attention. Then she had those clothes that kept your attention. Then she had those dark green eyes that at this moment were filled with concentration. He started to smile to himself, this was however unnoticeable for other people because of his clothing that hid his face. She really looked cute to him, and surprisingly enough he actually felt like speaking to her. So he broke the silence.

"How's it going?" he asked her. She looked up at him looking slightly surprised that he broke the silence before she did.

"No progress yet" she said after a while. With a hint of embarrassed happiness in her voice, as she spoke she tilted her head on the side and closed her eyes. He chuckled a little bit at her. "Well, hopefully you will do some progress soon. And if you don't at least my bugs get some extra food" he joked sounding happy. "Yeah, I guess your right" she said a little bit with him.

They then continued walking. After a while Rin spoke up. "I don't think I can take much more of this. It will just make me run low on chakra" she said as she stopped focusing chakra in to her hand. "Okay" Shino answered as he called back the bugs.

"How come you hide your face?" Rin said after a while.

"Eh.. It's a clan thing I think" he answered her.

"You think? If you're not even sure why you are hiding your face, then why don't you try not hiding your face?"

"I don't know, I'm just so used to hiding it that I don't really think about it"

"Oh, well in that case". It was all she said before she quickly reached up and pulled his hood down. In the process she accidentally knocked away his sunglasses. They fell down and broke. The only thing now hiding his face was his shirt underneath his jacket that went up to his nose. What Rin saw however made her freeze still on her toes. Those eyes, she hadn't really expected anything, but defiantly not _that_. His eyes were dark brown, almost black, but in a circle around the pupil was a white line. Her eyes were immediately drawn to the white circle, just as your gaze goes towards light in darkness. It was truly impossible to look away.

They stood like that for surely a minute, at least it felt like that to them. Then a bird or some other creature took of from its place on a branch. The sound of the branch shaking got them out of their state. Shino looked playfully at the girl.

"So, you like what you see?" he asked her in a playful voice. He really didn't understand why he saud it, it was something about her that made him behave so unlike himself.

"Yeah, I guess" she said in the same voice. She then bent down to pick up his now broken sunglasses. "I'm sorry about these" she said as she gave them to him.

"That's alright, I have spare ones" he said as he put the broken one in his pocket and took out another pair. He then put his hood back up. "Let's get back in to Konoha" he said and started walking again. "Okay" she said now following him again. She off all really knew that everybody had secrets, and why people had them. Why he kept his face a secret though she did however not understand. She was nonetheless pleased with herself that she had revealed that secret of his.

**A/N: Done with chapter four :D … Okay so there were three secrets there, one for you and two for the characters.. Rin is a Jinchuuriki, I have however planted hints about this in all the previous chapters. **

**Number 1: The thing with her choosing Konoha since they had accepted Naruto. Number 2: She wondered how Hinata could already know something. **

**Number 3: Her and Naruto's fight in chapter 2 **

**Number 4: The strange chakra**_**s.**_

**Well otherwise I hope you have enjoyed, please R&R **


	5. Confrontation

**Disclaimer: I don't own shit**

**A/N: First I just want to say thank you for the totally wonderful reviews :D Then I have to say sorry to you who actually reads this, I won't be able to upload until Monday, for some reason I can't do it at home. Now when that's over, let's get on with the next chapter:D**

Chapter 5: Confrontation

Up until the Saturday after Naruto's and Rin's arrival Sakura's parents had been gone on a mission. The reason they went together was that it was an undercover mission were they needed some that could play married. Now when they got home Sakura and Rin was waiting with some questions to Sakura's father.

As her parents entered their home Saturday afternoon they found their daughter an unknown red headed girl sitting in the living room. The man entering the room immediately froze as he saw the red haired girl. He looked petrified at her. He didn't know what it was, but something with her appearance defiantly scared him. Suddenly images of red headed ninjas killing people and covered in blood came to his mind. Red headed ninjas killing his family, covered in the blood of his family. He had been a mere child when it happened, but he still yet remembered some of his family, and at certain times when he was extra vulnerable he remembered that day almost 40 years ago as if it was yesterday.

"Hello, Sakura" his wife said happily to their daughter. "Who are you?" she then asked Rin just as happy. "This is Rin, she came home with Naruto this Tuesday. She has been living here since, but she's gotten an apartment of her own so she is moving there tomorrow" Sakura answered her mother's question smiling. Then she looked over at her frozen father "Her name is Kizume Rin" she said sympathizing the Kizume. That Sakura had spoken directly to him seemed to make him get out of his shock. "I know" was still yet the only reply they would get. Sakura wasn't very surprised at this, mostly a little bit disappointed that he never had told her. What she hadn't expected though was her mother's react to the name. "Her name is what?" she asked suddenly looking almost angry. "How dare you to set a foot in this household? Do you know what her family has done to your father Sakura?" she was on the verge of screaming by now. Both the teenagers looked at the angry woman. Then she started to walk towards Rin in the intension of throwing her out. She was however stopped by he daughter, she looked at her mother and started to speak calmly. "Mom, calm down. Rin is staying here until she or I says otherwise. And I do know what the Kizume clan has done to dad. And because I know of it I have some questions to him". The woman looked at her pink haired daughter shocked, she knew?

Sakura looked over at her father and he met her gaze calmly. "I guess I can understand that" he said, his voice just as calm as his eyes.

"First of, how come you haven't told me about it?"

"No reason to dwell on the past, you were too young anyway"

"I can understand the age thing when I was younger. But the whole no reason to dwell on the past thing I don't get, if you really didn't want to do that how come you told mom?"

The man sighed, suddenly he didn't look as calm anymore, mostly tired.

"Because when I met your mother I did dwell on the past. I think that changed when we got you, I didn't want you to know of your clan's history. It was too bloody, not only when they were slaughtered, but also what we had done to others"

Sakura didn't know how to answer that, so she went on to the next question.

"How old were you?"

"Eight, I don't remember that much what actually happened because of my age. But I do remember some things.

"It was during the night that they came, none of us was prepared for. They came and killed all of them silently, they missed me because of a coincidence. I always wanted to make sure that there weren't any monsters under my bed. So I crawled in under it and laid there for a couple of minutes. That night however I was so tired that I by mistake fell asleep there under the bed. Since my bedcover went down to the floor and still was on the bed they didn't notice me. When I woke up in the morning there was blood everywhere, and all was dead. Now once again I was lucky, just a couple of days later some travelers went past. They found me crying, laying next to my mother's corpse".

As he talked Sakura's mood went down even further. No wonder he hasn't told her about it earlier. Who would ever want to tell their children that story? In hopes of not needing to hear anymore she quickly moved on.

"What do you remember about the clan? Like the Kekkei-genkei and such"

"Kekkei-genkei? That one I don't remember if we had one Sakura" he asked her sounding a bit confused.

"You don't remember any Kekkei-genkei?" she asked him then looking towards Rin.

"But you said…" she continued to Rin.

"You do have a Kekkei-genkei, as he just said he doesn't remember that much because of his age. It was after all 40 years ago it happened" she said to Sakura.

"Yeah, you're right" she answered then turning towards her dad once again "Well dad, according to Rin we have a Kekkei-genkei. Apparently it can get activated by someone from the Kizume clan" she then continued.

"What? Oh, I really don't remember anything like that. But what is it then by the way?" he then said turning towards Rin when he started on the question.

"I don't know I was too young to know when I left Haruno-sama" she said a little startled from getting talked to by him.

"Oh" he said sounding a little bit disappointed. "Well, then I guess you guys just have to figure it out" he then added sounding a little bit more happy.

"Yeah, that was the plan dad" Sakura then said. "I guess going in to details any further right now won't do us any good. So maybe we better get going to your new apartment" she then added turning to Rin during the sentence.

"Yeah, I guess you're right" she said. "It was nice to meet you Haruno-sama" she said turning to Sakura's parents bowing slightly to them both. Her mother still looked a little suspicious and slightly irritated. Then the two teenage girls were out the door.

-------------------------------------------

They went to Rin's new apartment, it laid in the western parts of the village. Close to the Hyuuga compound. They went in to the small compound and up the three stairs to the floor where Rin's apartment laid. They went in to the door to apartment number 21. They entered a small living room. To their right was the kitchen, it was an open way into it without a full door between the two rooms. Opposite to the front door there was another door that went in to her Bedroom. Next to the bedroom door the bathroom door was. In the middle of the room there was a table with four chairs around it that didn't fit in the kitchen. Against the left wall opposite to the kitchen wall there was a couch. Above it there was a window.

The two girls closed the door and went to the table, they sat down opposite from each other. They sat at the end of the table, Rin pulled the chair back and put her feet at the chair beside her. Sakura on the other hand just sat down on her chair. You could easily see the differences between them, Rin in her relaxed 'I don't care' kind of way, and Sakura's more caring ladylike way. Still yet Rin held so much respect towards the other girl and authorities. Sakura sometimes had a hard time figuring that part out, how could somebody with that much respect in her be that relaxed and none caring?

"So, I guess we didn't gain much help from that when it comes to the Kekkei-genkei" the red head said to the other girl.

"Yeah, I guess so" Sakura answered her.

For a while they just sat there saying nothing. Thinking about what Sakura's father had said and about what the kekkei-genkei could be. Then the silence were interrupted by a load bang, just as if someone had run in to the door, or pushed at it. Then they heard Naruto's voice echoing through the door and in to Rin's apartment.

"Oi Rin-chan, let me in before I have to kick Kiba's ass"

"As if you could do such a thing" they heard Kiba's voice said, and then they heard another thump, just this time it weren't against the door but against the wall beside it. Rin sighed at the two boys' immature acting; she then slowly stood up and walked towards the door.

As she opened the door the two boys burst trough it. Kiba immediately went to Sakura. She sat there looking a little shocked still from the sudden burst when Kiba had pushed Naruto in to the door. Without time to understand what just had happened Kiba had dragged her up from her chair and kissed her fiercely. After just seconds her brain started to cope again and she kissed him back.

"Did you really have to kick me all the way here because I was too slow to do _that_?" Naruto asked irritated motioning towards the couple.

"Hell yeah" Kiba claimed towards him when they broke away from the kiss to get some air. Sakura just stood there with a wide grin on her face. Her brain still not understanding what happened to a 100. "Nnnn" could be heard from the pink haired girl as she stood there with closed eyes.

All three of them suddenly jumped and looked towards the door as Rin had closed it harder than necessary.

"Don't you ever barge in like that again Naruto" she said angrily looking towards the blonde boy that now looked terrified.

"Eh, he Rin-chan, you know that if Kiba hadn't..." he said nervously, his voice fading away at the ending. He pulled up his arms in front of his face and crawled in to a ball in the corner as he looked up at the red head that towered up in front of him.

------------------------------------------

Hinata was on her way home when she heard a scream from the apartment compound next to her home.

"HEEEEEEEEEEELP" could be heard. As she heard it Hinata's heart almost stopped dead in its track. She would recognize that voice anywhere, despite the fact that the owner had been gone for three years. It was Naruto. As soon as she heard the voice of her love scream that word - with that much fear leaking in to - she lost it. So instead of going to her room as she was planning she ran in to the building and up the stairs.

When she got up on the third floor the door to number 21 flew open. Out trough the door Naruto comes running. Close behind Rin comes after him, one of her whips almost ready.

"Hinata" Naruto calls to her. On the way past her he grasped her hand and drags her with him away from the danger. He ran up the stairs and on to the roof of the building.

Once there he finally realized what he had done. He hadn't needed to pull Hinata out of danger. It was only Rin that was angry on him, Hinata didn't have any need to feel fear. Well, was too late to turn back now. Okay, maybe it wasn't, but he didn't feel like letting Hinata go now. Besides he wanted to talk to her about what he had heard yesterday.

--------------------------------------------------

When Rin ran through the open door to the roof she was met with the vision of Naruto picking Hinata up. He placed one arm around her shoulders and the other one under her hocks. The indigo haired girl automatically places her arms around his neck to balance herself. Then the blonde boy took of with the now red faced girl.

"Shit, he got away" Rin said sounding irritated. Still yet wearing a smirk thinking of the way he got away. Or more correct _who _he got away with.

--------------------------------------------------

As Hinata was being carried away in Naruto's arm she knew she would have gotten insulted if it had been anybody else. When it was Naruto however she couldn't, she was too happy to be in his arms once again to notice. She then got this almost irresistible urge to put her face at his collarbone. Just where his neck and shoulder molded together. To put her face there, and breath in his scent. His wonderful scent that made her knees go weak. Just as sudden as she got it she realized what she wanted to do and blushed a deeper shade of red. Even though she had realized it and got embraced she still yet had to fight that urge with every ounce of willpower she had.

After a while they arrived at the balcony of Naruto's apartment. As he started to walk in Hinata spoke up.

"You know, I can walk" she said sounding a little nervous.

"He he, yeah I know that, but I wanted to make sure you followed and didn't fall because you didn't get we were going to jump away from the roof. Besides I like to carry you" He said smiling towards the girl. As he entered his apartment he sat Hinata down on the floor slowly so she wouldn't fall. He then started to walk towards his couch to lay down on it when he reached it. He turned over to his back and put his hand at the back of his neck, now laying there watch towards Hinata.

"Well, I guess I should explain what just happened" he said laughing a little nervously at the same time.

"That would be nice actually" she said still not moving from the spot where he put her down.

"Well, you know you don't have to stand there all day. You could come and sit down" he said first.

"Okay" she said sounding a little bit insecure before she slowly walked over to the couch. She sat down at the edge without putting any real weight on it. Naruto sat up to make room for the girl. He sat with his left foot on the floor while the other one was on the couch so that he was turned towards her. She sat with both feet on the ground and turned her upper body towards the blonde boy.

"So, well as you might have guessed Rin was a little bit aggravated with me"

"You say?"

"He he, yep that was her a little bit aggravated"

"In that case I really don't want to se her angry!"

"He he, nope you defiantly don't want that!" he said laughing a little bit at the girls expression.

"Okay, she was a little bit aggravated with you. Now _why_ was she aggravated?"

"Well, on my way to Rin I met up with Kiba. And since both of us guessed that Sakura was there with Rin he tagged along. The only problem was that Kiba thought that we went too slowly. So he started to hurry me up by kicking me. Once there he had gotten so exited at kicking me so he continued, by using me as a knocking device. When Rin opened the door he rushed in to Sakura. I flew in by the speed of him, and Rin got angry at me for barging in. So I ran out and grabbed you by the speed of it, I forgot that the situation wasn't actually that dangerous. At least not for you, then the best escape rout was of the roof"

"She got angry at you because Kiba rushed in?" Hinata asked him stunned.

"No, she got aggravated at me because Kiba rushed in. Se she doesn't know Kiba so she can't do something like that to him" he explained.

"Yeah right, she was only aggravated" she said as if she just remembered that.

"Yeah" he said putting up his right hand at the back of his neck, laughing half nervously.

"By the way, what were you doing there?" he then asked her.

"Ano... well, to be honest, I heard you scream for help and thought that somebody was in danger... and I guess I wanted to help" she answered as she started to twiddle with her fingers. She also blushed slightly and looked down on the amazing acrobats her fingers now were doing.

"Really? You came because you wanted to help me?" he asked her looking and sounding a bit shocked at the girl's caring way.

"Yeah, I know maybe you don't really need help, so don't take it like I don't think you need help all the time 'cause I don't I just heard you scream and" the now slightly stressed girl was interrupted by Naruto's finger on her lips.

"Thanks Hinata-chan, I really appreciate you wanting to help me" he said with a smile. Not that kind of smile he usually has to hide his pain, but a real rarely seen one.

He removed his finger and they sat there for a while just gazing in to each others' eyes, just as at the Hokage monument. It only lasted for a moment however, Naruto suddenly realized why he had went to Rin in the first place.

"Hey, Hinata-chan I'm sorry but I got to go now. I just remembered why I went to Rin's in the first place"

"Oh, okay" she answered him. They got up and went to the balcony there Naruto stopped and turned around towards Hinata.

"Hinata-chan, on Tuesday I'm gonna have this test to see if I'm a chuunin. You wanna come and se?" he asked the girl.

"Sure, that would be nice Naruto-kun". Naruto gave her one of his trademark grins and turned around to jump away. Just before he did however he turned around again. He quickly gave her a small kiss on her cheek. "Ja Ne Hinata-chan" he said looking in to her eyes. Then he turned around to jump away once again. This time he didn't stop he jumped away from Hinata. The indigo haired girl that just received another kiss on her cheek from her one love stood there shocked and blushing furiously, just as the last time he had done that.

**A/N: that was the fifth chapter that. First of all I just want to say a quick thank you to my cute cousin, if it hadn't been for her the ending of this chapter wouldn't have been the same. Other wise please R&R :D **


	6. Up to the test

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto. Only my OC and the storyline for this Fanfic.**

**A/N: I don't really have anything to say right now, so on to the next chapter.**

Chapter 6: Up to the test

Tsunade stood at the main training ground. This was where Naruto's and Rin's tests were to take place. She stood there together with Shizune waiting for the two teens.

Ten minutes before set time Rin arrives. Eleven minutes later Naruto arrives.

"You're late Naruto" is the first thing Tsunade says to him.

"I am" he asked as he looks at his watch. "Ahh, Oba-chan barely a minute" he says irritated as he sees what time it is. Tsunade's brow started to twist slightly.

"It's still after the set time, and don't call me Oba-chan!" she says after taking a deep breath to calm herself.

After a while of their arguing they finally got going on to the test. Tsunade started to explain what they were to do.

"You're going to battle one person each. Your purpose ain't for you to win the battle, only to show what you can do. And in your case Naruto to show how much you have improved"

"Hai" both said in unison.

"Good, now Rin you are to face Aburame Shibi. The leader of the Aburame clan, actually he volunteered for this" Rin reacted at the name. Aburame, wasn't that Shino's surname?

"Naruto, you are to face me, The Hokage" both of them looked shocked at the blond woman. She was going to test him? Naruto looked terrified, he clearly remembered the last time he had faced her.

--------Flashback----------

"_I'll beat you with only this finger" Tsunade said as she showed Naruto her index finger. Naruto charged at her with shurikens and a kunai. She deflected the attacks with that one finger. She then flecked him on his forehead and made him tumble away several meters. _

_Naruto charges at her with a badly done Rasengan. Before he can hit her with it however she beats down on the ground with her finger. The ground beneath Naruto cracks into a small valley and Naruto is thrown back 5 meters. _

--------End Flashback--------

He swallowed loudly. Then he shock it of, he were not afraid. Sure she was the Hokage and had an inhuman strength, but she wouldn't hurt him for real. Right?

"You are to hold out for 30 minutes, and during that time you are going to protect one scroll each" she held up two scrolls in her hand to show them. "There are no rules about how you want to protect the scroll" she continued. "If you feel like it you don't even have to fight, that is if you think you can outrun us" she then added with a smirk at the ending. She threw them one scroll each now. "You are to fight at the same time but at different places. Rin you are to wait here for Shibi, Naruto you and I are going to go to another place".

During Tsunade's instructions Hinata had arrived. She was standing some meters away from them listening to Tsunade as well. Almost immediately when she arrived she got eye contact with Naruto and as soon as Tsunade was finished he went over to her.

"Hi Hinata-chan" he greeted her happily.

"Hi Naruto-kun". At this point he had reached her, he went to her and gave her a quick hug.

"If you want to see me doing the test you have to come with me and Tsunade now" he then said.

"Okay" she answered him. He smiled at her answer and took her hand and started to drag her with him towards Tsunade and Rin.

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When the three had left Rin stood alone with her scroll fastened at her hip waiting for Aburame Shibi. After a while somebody with sunglasses and a hood came walking calmly out of the forest.

"Kizume Rin I presume" the man said.

"In that case you're Aburame Shibi" Rin answered his statement.

"Yes" the man answered "Now, let's get started will we" he then added.

Rin crouched down in to a fighting stance. "I'm guessing Tsunade has told you the rules?" he asked her, still standing up right. "Hai" Rin said not moving.

"Good" was all he said before he raised his arms. Out from his sleeves hundreds of bugs came out flying towards Rin. Rin smirked, she had been right, this man was related to Shino. That just made all of this so much better. She had during the latest days trained so much with Shino's bugs that she now was able to avoid them almost perfectly.

She didn't wait for the bugs to get close to her however. She quickly ran away from them and hid amongst the trees. The bugs followed her just as quick. So she ran again, and once again the bugs followed her. Now a plan took form, she quickly made a small whip and used it to attack the bugs. They quickly started to eat at the feast just as Shino's bugs, and just as she had expected. She let them eat and quickly let the whip go. When the bugs now where occupied with her chakra she charged at Shibi with another whip ready.

-----------------------------------------

By now Naruto were just about to start his test. He and Tsunade were standing facing each other. Tsunade held up one of her index fingers and said

"Just as last time I'm going to beat you with this finger"

"Yeah, you try that. I think I at least can get you to use two fingers" Naruto answered with a smirk.

"By the way, if you're only gonna use one finger how are you gonna get a good grip on the scroll?" he then added, his smirk growing larger. At first Tsunade seemed a little startled by this. She actually hadn't thought about that. Then she just said

"It's a principal thing. As soon as I have beaten you with one finger I don't _need_ to take the scroll to show you. Because you will be unconscious"

"We'll see about that"

Naruto brought up his hand to his most used seal and screamed out "Kage Bunshin No Jutsu" immediately a bunch of clones popped up and all of them including the real Naruto started to run towards Tsunade. She merely hit her finger in the ground; the effect of this was a minor earthquake and a crack in the ground speeding towards Naruto.

Many of the clones fell down in the dark depths of Tsunade's newly made crack, others of the clones disappeared in puffs of smoke because of the shaking.

Left was Naruto and two more clones, the ones who had jumped up in the air during the shaking. Now they were falling in the air down toward Tsunade. She threw three shurikens at them, all of them hit their target, and each target disappeared in a puff of smoke. Tsunade did however not look surprised at this, instead a little smirk could be seen on her face. Suddenly she jumped up in the air and just a millisecond later the hands of Naruto shot up from the ground where she had been standing. She landed just centimeters away from the now halfway up Naruto, she hit him in the head with the index finger. He quickly went in to the ground further, now only his head was above the ground.

"So, how does that feel?" Tsunade asked him. "Being stuck in the ground" she then added.

"Who said I was stuck here?" he asked her with a smirk. Then in some way he flew up from the ground up in the air. The ground around him flew up almost like in an explosion. The reason for this soon became visible. There had been shadow clones underneath him that had made new ones all the time. Then they became too many and the pressure on the ground became too much. Just like that time three years ago in the forest of death when Naruto had been eaten by a snake.

Now he came through the air with a Rasengan in his hand. Since he came from the air and not running the only thing Tsunade could do was to dodge it, which she did by jumping backwards. Naruto had however during his one year of training with Rin become much better at chakra control. Because of this he was able to control the chakra in the Rasengan to make the minor crater that was formed become a crack that now raced towards Tsunade. Therefore she had to once again jump away. When she landed she felt a knife at her neck and froze. One of his clones had made sure to get behind her when she was distracted. In the blink of an eye however she had raised her index finger and snapped away the knife before the clone could react. When he finally reacted she was on her way spinning around to do something about him standing behind her. His reaction was raising his foot and kicking her as she spun. Her natural reaction was to take a grip around his leg. This did however force her to use more than one finger. Both of them stopped dead in their tracks and looked at her hand.

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Rin looked around her, where was that man. She had recently landed a hit on him but it had turned out to be only a bug clone. She had soon discovered that his kikaichus made it nearly impossible for her to detect him through her kekkei-genkei. He on the other hand had for some reason no problem what so ever to detect her. She wasn't sure but she thought that Shino had told her of why, what she remembered it had something to do with him putting some bug on her that the other bugs could detect. She was however not sure, she hadn't been paying attention. Actually she had quite a hard time concentrating when she was training with Shino, he was actually much more interesting to watch many times than the training was.

Then she heard something in the bushes behind her. She quickly spun around and threw a kunai towards the sound. Apparently a big mistake because as soon as she had done it she felt another kunai around her neck and heard a voice in her ear saying

"Hand the scroll over now, nice and easy. Don't wanna have to make me search for it on you, do ya?"

"What are you going to do otherwise? Slice my throat open?" she asked him with a smirk both on her face and in her voice. This did however not startle the man like she had expected and hoped for. Instead he only answered her question calmly with the same monotone voice as Shino

"Of course I wouldn't, this is after all just a test. Then of course, is that really how you would get out of this situation in real life?" At this Rin was startled. Not because of his answer, but more because of the fact that he could answer the question so quick and calmly. It did however only make her hesitate for the blink of an eye. Suddenly Shibi flew backwards away from the red headed girl several meters.

--------------------------------------------------------------

"I told you I would make you use more than one finger" Naruto told Tsunade with a smirk on his lips. _'He couldn't have planned that could he?' _Tsunade thought.

Because of her shock the only thing she did as a response was to snort. Then she quickly turned her grabbing hand in to a single finger holding his leg from her. She then threw the leg away and flecked her finger at his forehead. He flew several meters away from her in to a tree. He hit the tree standing up but the impact made him slide down in to a sitting position at the foot of the tree. Tsunade started to walk slowly towards the almost unconscious boy. She looked half pissed half happy.

"Now where's that scroll Naruto? It is five minutes left and you have just lost that scroll to me" she told him holding out her hand.

Naruto merely smiled at the blonde woman.

"Nope, I haven't yet. It's as you said five minutes left and you still don't have the scroll"

"What? So you expect that I will just let you not hand me the scroll despite the fact that you're almost unconscious?"

"Not almost" was his only reply as his head tipped forwards and he fainted.

------------------------------------------------------

Shibi landed laying on the ground a couple of meters away from Rin. He looked surprised at her. She just turned around and shot a smug smile at him.

"Do you really think I would let you sneak up behind and then don't do anything?" she asked him.

"What did you do anyway?" he asked her as he slowly started to sit up.

"Well, as you know of my ability to form chakra by now I guess I could tell you. I merely formed chakra to push you away as I distracted you. Not any harder than that" she said with a smile on her lips. During her speaking Shibi had felt something preventing him from getting up. Suddenly he saw it, she had places a big cover of chakra on top of him, forcing him down with it.

"You know that I can brake free because of my bugs don't you?" he asked her.

"Yeah I know that. But because of my ability of to in some scale avoid your bugs with my chakra, because of my latest training, it will take too long time for you" she answered him just as happy as before.

"What do you mean _too _long?" he asked her looking a bit confused.

"Well, it's about five minutes left now of your 30 minutes to get the scroll" she answered with a smirk. Realization came to Shibi, _'Oh Fuck!'_

--------------------------------------------------------------

"Kuso" Tsunade cursed under her breath. Why did Naruto have to faint, it made getting the scroll from him so much harder. She sighed and went to him. With her inhuman strength she easily picked him up with one hand. She naturally looked if anything was fastened at the hip. Nothing there, shit shit shit. She really didn't feel like searching through his entire body. Even though she was a med nin she still had a hard time with that, at least when it didn't come to her medical work. Well oh well, she just had to bite together and search for it.

"Ano, Hokage-sama" she could hear a soft and searching voice say behind her. She turned around still holding up Naruto to se Hinata standing there.

"Yeah, Hinata" she said waiting for the girl to say what she wanted.

"Ano, the 30 minutes are up" she said in the same low searching voice.

"What? It is? Kuso" the Hokage replied to the girl. She then dropped Naruto on the ground, not putting him down gently but just letting him fall to the ground. This made Hinata jump slightly and let out a small squeak.

"Oh, relax" Tsunade said as she waved her hand in the air. She sighed at the girl before she bent down. She forced some medical chakra in to her hand and woke Naruto up with it. He opened his eyes and looked at them. Then he sat up. He looked at Hinata.

"You still have it right?" he asked the girl.

"Hai Naruto-kun" she answered. Tsunade looked between them suspiciously.

"You still have what?" she asked Hinata after a while. Naruto answered for the girl.

"The scroll, to make sure that you wouldn't get your hands on the scroll I asked Hinata to hold on to it during my test" Tsunade looked surprised at the blonde boy sitting at her feet. Did Uzumaki Naruto, the number one loudmouth, really do such a thing? She couldn't believe it, she expected him to head right in to it without second thought. Just as it had seemed that he did, but apparently he hadn't.

"Well, since you after all are the Hokage and a Sannin, I kind of realized that you easily could beat the shit out of me. So I wanted to make sure the safety of the scroll. So I gave it to Hinata-chan" he explained himself further. Tsunade still stood there shocked, unable to say anything. Naruto looked at her ready to bring his arms up in case she got angry. Hinata stood nervously holding her hands together at her chest, she also waiting for the woman to get angry at Naruto.

"I didn't expect that from you Naruto, that was actually a smart move" she said after a while calmly. Both Hinata and Naruto looked slightly shocked on Tsunade. Had she just said that it was a smart thing to do?

"To make sure the scroll is safe by putting it somewhere I really wouldn't expect and have a hard time reaching while fighting with you" she then continued in the same calm slightly startled voice. A smile started to form on Naruto's mouth.

"I guess you earn the title of a Konoha Chuunin" she ended, upgrading Naruto's rank with those words. Naruto had a hard time believing it. Sure, he went in to the test to become a chuunin and wouldn't have accepted anything else. The feeling of actually becoming a chuunin was however not something he had expected. It was such an overwhelming feeling that he didn't know what to do. In his euphoria he jumped up from his sitting position with a smile on his face and hugged Tsunade.

"Arigatou" he almost screamed out.

"Hey hey" Tsunade managed to get out, her hands waiving uncontrollable in the air. Naruto quickly stepped away before one of those inhuman strong hands "accidentally" hit him in the head or something.

"Summimasen" he said bowing slightly to the woman.

"It's alright, but don't ever hug me that suddenly ever again" she said smiling a little bit at his childlike happiness. Guess he still yet was the loudmouth Uzumaki Naruto, merely older and slightly more mature.

Naruto now turned towards the indigo haired girl standing beside him smiling at his success.

"Arigatou Hinata-chan, if it weren't for you I probably couldn't have done it that easily" he said before hugging her just as he had with Tsunade. Only this time he didn't settle for a mere hug. He picked Hinata up in the air while hugging her and span around once before putting her down again. It happened so fast and sudden that it shocked Hinata, she also became slightly dizzy from it also because of the suddenness. As she stood there and swayed vaguely with Naruto's hand on her waist – which he kept there to keep her balanced – the realization of what had happened came to her. Naruto-kun had hugged her, and picked her up. She immediately started to blush like crazy, now swaying a little bit more because of the dizziness that the realization caused. She faintly heard Naruto and Tsunade talking but without hearing what they actually said.

--------------------------------------

"Hinata-chan, hello Hinata-chan, are you alright?" Naruto said trying to get the girl's attention. Tsunade sighed and put two fingers between her eyes as if she had a headache.

"I really think you shouldn't have done that Naruto" she said in an irritated tone.

"Hinata-chan hello Hinata-chan" was the only response she could get from the boy whom didn't seem to hear her at all for the moment. She sighed once again.

"Just let her calm down" she said.

"Hinata-chan" was still yet the only response from the blonde boy that now even started to shake the girl slightly.

"NARUTO" Tsunade screamed out to get his attention. The boy jumped from the shock of hearing Tsunade's voice screaming without any warning.

"What?" he asked shocked frozen in his position with his hands on Hinata's arms in the motion of shaking her.

"Don't do that, just wait and let her calm down okay. She merely got shocked" Tsunade explained to Naruto.

"Oh, okay" he said tilting Hinata up into an upright position once again, without losing his grip on her however.

"Naruto, let go of her" Tsunade said slowly as if explaining something to a child. Naruto finally let go of her unwillingly after a while.

-------------------------------------------

The shock started to loose its grip on Hinata and she slowly started to get more aware of her surroundings. Naruto was standing with his hands on her arms looking at Tsunade whom just had said something. After a while he let go of her arms looking as if he wished he didn't have to. Tsunade looked over at her seeing that the girl was once again aware of them.

"How are you feeling Hinata?" The woman asked her.

"Fine" she answered.

Naruto quickly turned his head towards her looking slightly shocked that she had answered. He also looked both relieved that she had answered and almost let down. As if he felt sad that she had answered Tsunade but not him, just as if it was because of Tsunade she came back.

"Congratulations Naruto-kun" she said to him smiling after a while when she remembered why he in the first place had hugged her. He looked at her somewhat shocked, he had too forgotten why he had hugged her in the first place. Then he remembered and put on one of his wide grins.

"Arigatou Hinata-chan" he said.

"Hey Teinousha1" they heard someone call out. As they turned their heads they saw a smiling and waiving Rin and a disappointed looking Aburame Shibi walking next to her.

"Oi, Rin-chan" Naruto screamed waiving back with his big grin still placed on his face.

"How did it go?" she asked him.

"I made it. I am now officially a chuunin" he said happy as ever.

"Congratulations Teinousha" she said.

"Thanks, how about you then Rin-chan?" he then asked her.

They had by now reached the other three and had stopped in front of them.

"Well" she said looking over at Shibi waiting for him to answer. He sighed.

"Well, she managed to keep the scroll safely from me. She did of course make some mistakes, but all in all it was good. I would say that she is at chuunin level" he said to Tsunade.

"Well then it's decided, Kizume Rin you are to become a Konoha chuunin" the blonde woman replied looking over towards Rin.

"We better give you your new forehead protector soon then, so you can show everybody that you now belong to a village" she said as she dug around a little bit in her pouch. After a while she took up a Forehead protector identical to Rin's with one difference, the Konoha mark.

"Carry it with proud, because just now you inherited the will of Fire"

**Teinousha****1 ****– Imbecile**

**A/N: So hope you enjoyed, please review. I hope you don't think that I've exaggerated Naruto and Rin's abilities. So don't have anything to say right now either. So Mata Ne. **


	7. A New Mission

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto! **

**A/N: So Chapter 7 now, I will just let you read it now.**

Chapter 7: A new mission

Hinata was walking down one of the roads of Konoha. She had decided to take a day of from the training today, and she didn't have any mission either. Not that she knew of at least. It was now about lunch time and she was trying to decide where to have lunch, maybe she should go to Ichiraku's, if she was lucky she could always bump into Naruto there. Then of course he was probably out training, and despite his appetite he usually forgot about food then.

She thought back to a week ago, the same day that Naruto and Rin had turned into Chuunins. The old rookie nine and team Gai – minus Sasuke of course – had gone out to celebrate, and in some way she had ended up in the seat next to Naruto's. All night she had been aware of how close he was. They had been so many that they barely could sit all at one table, but they had managed to. This resulted in Hinata having to sit so close to Naruto that she actually had been able to feel the warmth of his thigh through their clothes. The memory of it still, one week later, made her blush.

She saw Sakura and Ino on their way in to one of Konoha's restaurants.

"Hey, Sakura-chan Ino-chan" she called out to waiving at them. They both turned their heads towards the sound of their names.

"Hey Hinata-chan" they both then said waiting for the girl to get over to them.

"Hi, is it alright if I join you guys?" she asked them when she did.

"Sure" Sakura answered happily.

All three of them then entered the restaurant. Once in there they went and sat down at one of the tables that had a window next to it. They all liked it that way, it made them able to see what happened in the village. They liked it for more then one reason, one of them was the curiosity, they were after all three teenaged girls, and they needed gossip. Another reason was the fact that it made their friends able to see them, if they were to walk pass they could always come in and eat with them or just talk. This fact that others was able to see them was also good when it came to missions, it made it easier for someone who were to give them a mission or tell them that the Hokage wanted to see them if they were able to see them. So they always sat at a window table.

They ordered their food and drinking and started to eat. They talked about everything and nothing, just like any other teenage girls. When it came to that there weren't that much difference between them and civil teenagers.

Just as they were talking one of the reasons for sitting at a window table happened, one of their friends passed by and saw them. Kiba passed by to be exact. The brown haired boy waved happily and went to the door of the restaurant. He walked up to their table and gave Sakura a quick kiss on the lips as he sat down beside her with his arm behind her neck. "Hi Sakura-_chan_" he said looking in to her eyes emphasising the chan suffix to show what she meant to him.

"Hi Kiba-kun" she said smiling back at him. After giving her another quick kiss he turned toward the other girls at the table.

"Hi Hinata-chan, Ino-san" he said to them.

"Hi Kiba-kun" they both said.

He bent forward taking one of Sakura's French fries and put it in his mouth starting to chew on it. When he bent forward for a second one Sakura spoke up,

"Are you planning on eating my food or ordering your own" she asked him sounding amused. He stopped chewing for a while before swallowing.

"He he, gomen Sakura-chan" he said smiling towards his green eyed girlfriend.

"It's alright, but I'm guessing that one serving isn't enough for the both of us" she said.

"Well, actually I've already eaten" he then said. He gave her another quick kiss, and instead of pulling away he stayed with his head in that position. This made them sitting with their foreheads together and their noses almost touching.

"Ahhh, I wish that my boyfriend also were that nice" they could hear Ino's high-pitched voice say. All the other three table occupants looked over towards the blonde girl. She was sitting with her face in her hand looking dreamingly at the couple at the other side of the table.

"Your boyfriend? Who?" Sakura asked her friend surprised. Ino realized what she had said and started to blush a little bit. She put her hand on the table and followed it with her gaze.

"Ano, it's somebody you guys don't know" she said avoiding now looking out the window instead.

"Come on Ino-chan who is it" Hinata said sounding curios surprising the others slightly.

"Ano, his name is Sai" she then answered after a while still sounding avoiding and with a slight blush on her face.

"Sai?" they all asked.

"Yeah, I told you you didn't know him" she said.

"Well, who is this Sai then?" Sakura asked her leaning in slightly towards her.

"Well, he's sooo cool actually, he's even in ANBU" Ino answered her friend also leaning in towards the pink haired girl. This way they closed out the other two efficiently.

"Really? Sugoi!" Sakura said sounding impressed by Ino.

"Yeah I know, and he is sooo hot. You know that mysterious and quiet type" Ino then said. "And he is an amazing kisser!" she then added, emphasising the amazing.

"Really?" Sakura asked as the two girls started to giggle together.

Kiba clearly got uncomfortable by this, he was quite jealous actually. Even though this was only about her friend' boyfriend and he really didn't have any reason to worry also otherwise he still yet didn't like it. Hinata who had been in the same team as him for over three years now could easily read his body language now a days. Then of course even if she couldn't it wouldn't be hard to see that he was feeling very uncomfortable. His jaw was tense as he was biting together his teeth, his hands was balled up into fists. He still yet hadn't moved them, all to not show Sakura how he was feeling about it. This only showed how much he actually liked the girl. Hinata once again got surprised about this, she had always gotten surprised when it came to Kiba and Sakura. She easily forgot about his behaviour around the girl since she spent so much time with him when Sakura wasn't there. He also had never been much of a talker when it came to feelings. One thing he though was was somebody with a hard time when it came to shutting up and showing emotions. Still yet, when it came to Sakura he always showed extreme emotions and he could even shut up as he now showed.

The bell on the door to the restaurant could be heard as the door opened. In walked two teens, one red headed girl with a white polo shirt that showed her entire mid-riff. The other one was a boy with hood and glasses that covered almost his entire face making it impossible to say how he actually looked. They went over to one of the already occupied window tables. At the table three girls and one boy was sitting, two of the girls were leaned forwards against each other giggling about something. The boy was looking uneasy and the third girl merely sat there eating her food, stopping to look up at the two people stopping at their table.

"Hi Shino-kun, Rin-chan" Hinata greeted them.

"Hi Hinata-san" Rin said with a smile.

The other ones had now looked up at them two, even Sakura and Ino had stopped giggling about Ino's new boyfriend Sai.

"The Hokage wants to see us Sakura-san, Hinata-chan and Kiba-kun. Apparently our teams have a mission together" Shino said as he adjusted his sunglasses.

"Okay" Sakura asked him as she started to get up.

"Hey, by the way, what are you two doing together any way?" Kiba asked with a smirk looking at Shino with a meaningful look.

"We were training together" Shino answered with his usual monotone voice, not letting his slight blush being noticed when he spoke. Luckily enough for them Rin had her way of not caring, so she didn't show any sign of embarrassment either. Sakura giggled a little bit at her boyfriend obvious disappointment.

When Sakura and Hinata had puttened their money on the table they turned towards Ino.

"Well, guess we'll see you later" Sakura said to her blonde friend.

"Yeah, good luck on the mission!" she said "By the way, can I have a word between four eyes before you leave Hinata-chan?" she then asked with a smirk.

"O-okay" Hinata said a little suspiciously.

"Well you can catch up with us later" Shino then said before turning around and walk towards the door. Rin gave Ino a small wave before following the boy.

"Ja Ne Ino-pig" Sakura said before she and Kiba also followed.

"Ja Ne forehead-girl" Ino called after Sakura before she got out from the restaurant.

Now only Ino and Hinata was left at the table. Ino turned her gaze from Sakura's back towards Hinata with a smirk on her face. Hinata, nervous as she was, jumped slightly from the suddenness of Ino's movement.

"Sooo, I guess you are going on a mission together with Naruto-kun" Ino said in a way that made her intent with this conversation fully clear.

"Y-yeah, I g-guess so" Hinata said.

"Sooo, what are you gonna do?" Ino asked with the same voice.

"W-what d-do y-you m-m-mean?" Hinata stuttered out as a slight blush made its way to her cheeks.

"Remember what we talked about girl! You have to tell him about your feelings, and this is a perfect opportunity!" Ino said now sounding more determined.

"Yeah I know" Hinata said and looked down in to the table. Even though she hadn't told anybody about her feelings towards the blonde boy it had been obvious to everybody except him. Still yet nobody had asked her about it, except Ino and Kiba. Ino had understood that she didn't just have to tell anybody about it but also needed some help to tell Naruto. So she had decided to help Hinata get the courage. During these last three years she had talked quite much to Hinata about him, and by that they had gotten pretty close also. Instead of being Sakura and Ino, it had now been Sakura, Ino and Hinata. Ino had once again been nice to a girl with ad confidence.

"Sooo, what will you do?" Ino asked her once again. Hinata looked up at her.

"I don't know" she said sounding almost desperate.

"Please, tell me or something. And don't just say I should tell him" she then added.

"Well, that's the whole thing, since Naruto is so dense there's no other way than telling him. All you could do is making it easier for you to tell him, get closer to him. But whatever you do make sure to show him that you don't just want to be friends with him. In that case it will become almost even harder to tell him. You could start with making sure that you get to have watch with him or something, so that you can talk"

"Okay" Hinata said sounding slightly disappointed that there were no easier way.

When Hinata and Ino had left after their little talk a silver haired man at one of the tables stood up. He was sitting in one of the corners for the exact same reasons that the young kunochis were sitting at the window-tables. At the widows you could be seen, you couldn't in one of the corners.

"Well, I guess that means I should leave as well" he said as he was looking at the man on the other side of the table.

"I'll miss you Kakashi-san" the sitting man said to him.

"I'll miss you too Iruka-san" Kakashi said as he walked around the table and gave Iruka a quick but passionate kiss. He then put some money on the table before he pulled up his mask once again and walked out of the restaurant towards the Hokage tower.

When Kakashi opened the door to Tsunade's office he was met by the gazes of several surprised looking people. Tsunade was sitting at her desk with her head in her hands, Shizune standing behind her. In front of the desk the entire team eight and the rest of his team were standing. All nine of them was turned towards him and looked as if a miracle had happened.

"Yo" he said as he put his together his index and long finer at his temple and waved them in the air. You could see that he was smiling on his closed and happy looking eye.

"Kaka-sensei, you're early" Sakura said sounding just as surprised as they all looked.

"I am?" he asked. "I didn't realise, well in that case I apologize" he then added as he turned around to walk out the door again. To this they all fell backwards as they anime sweat dropped.

"Kakashi-san don't you dare walk out that door just so you don't break your bad habit of always being late" Tsunade then said sounding so angry that it stopped Kakashi with his hand merely centimetres away from the door knob.

"Hai" he said nervously as he turned around again, obeying the angry woman.

"Good" she said to him before she once again turned to the other ones in the room.

Do some

"Okay, this is an A-ranked mission, that's the reason for there being two four-man-cells on the mission instead of one. The Daiymo of bird country and his family has been kidnapped by a league of criminals. They outnumber you, but they are not their skills aren't anywhere near Shinobi level. Your mission is to rescue him and his family. To do this you have to localize the league, therefore team 8 which is our number one search team. And then I added Kakashi because of the rank, one four-man-cell can't take the league out on their own. Understood?"

"Hai" All eight of them answered Tsunade's explanation.

"Good, now since bird country is localized so near Suna, the Kazekage has promised to provide you room and food for a couple of nights when you arrive there" she then added.

"Yes, we get to meet Gaara again" Naruto said happily. Tsunade just smiled at the boy's enthusiasm.

"You head out tomorrow morning, so you will have enough time to pack for such a considerable long mission" she then said sounding more serious again.

"Hai" they all said as they turned around to walk out of the room.

"Kakashi, Kurenai, I want to talk to you before you leave. Extra info about the mission for you two" Tsunade said before they could leave. So Kakashi and Kurenai turned around once again now facing Tsunade.

"You'll have a parallel mission on the side of this. You are to after the first night take another route then the young ones on your way to Suna. I need you to do some research on your way" the Hokage explained to the two Jounin standing in front of her.

"On what?" Kurenai asked her.

"Either Akatsuki or Orochimaru, we don't know who but apparently somebody with a Sharingan has been spotted around there"

**A/N: **

**Tries to dodge flying objects thrown by angry mob because of SaiIno**

**Haha you missed! Gets hit in the head by a last object**

**Aoo, that hurt! Well well, please review! Hope you aren't too angry about the SaiIno thing, I think my cousin would have strangled me if I would have been with her when she read it XD. And to all you yaoi haters, I won't take away the KakaIru parts, please just bare with me. Just find happiness in that it will only be small things like this and the last one. **


	8. First night away

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto**

**A/N: So chapter 8, ehm the reason for this coming up the same day as chapter 9 will wait until the end. **

Chapter 8: First night away

The time was six fifty a.m. and Hinata just arrived at the main gate. Kurenai and Shino were the only ones there before her. She didn't expect anything else, she was after all ten minutes early. Some minutes later Sakura arrived dragging along a half sleeping Kiba and a happy looking Akamaru walking behind them. Then soon after just about seven Naruto and Rin arrived talking about something. Rin sounding severally irritated while Naruto carried a smug smile.

Twenty past seven Kurenai spoke up.

"So, I guess I can give you in on the extra mission briefing while we wait for Kakashi-san" she said jumping up from her seat on a bench turning towards the others.

"So, I and Kakashi-san got a parallel research mission on the side of this. Therefore after the first night we will take another route than you guys to Suna. When we separate Shino will be the team leader during the mission, this because of the fact that he is pretty much the unsaid leader of him, Hinata and Kiba, and you in team Kakashi doesn't have one of those" she then continued to them.

"Hai" most of them said, the other ones merely nodded. She was slightly surprised that none of them, especially Naruto, didn't complain about Shino being the team leader. She had expected him to do so, therefore she had made sure to explain why before he could.

"Good, I don't think there's much more to say now. Guess we just have to wait for Kakashi-san now then" she said as she walked to the bench to sit down once again.

Hinata remembered Ino's tip from yesterday so she decided to try to talk to Naruto. She walked and sat down beside him.

"H-hi N-Naruto-kun" she said smiling nervously at him.

"Hi Hinata-chan" he said giving her one of his trademark grins.

"So, exited about the mission?" she asked him, it was the best thing she could come up with to talk about right now.

"Yeah, especially about meeting Gaara again. How about you?" he answered sounding happy.

"Yeah, I guess. I don't really know Gaara so I don't really have that to e exited about. But otherwise I don't see why I shouldn't be exited" she said smiling.

"He he, well you'll get to know him now wont you? He's nice, just a little quiet and drawn back"

"Okay"

By now Kakashi arrived, only 45 minutes late.

"Yo" he says as he comes walking relaxed and give them his trademark greeting.

Sakura and Naruto both snap up their heads towards him as they heard his voice.

"YOU ARE LAT E!" they both yell at him in unison.

"Well, I got lost on the way of life" he said to them relaxed.

"LIE" they accuse him in a unison yell.

Now when Kakashi finally had arrived they could get going. So they headed out.

Since it was so long and not that time pressured they walked out. Nothing special happened the first day and it felt like they pretty soon made up camp for the first night.

"We'll make camp here for the night" Kakashi said as they arrived at small clearing in the forest. A bit away you could here a small stream flowing.

"Ah, Kaka-sensei why do we have to make up camp already?" Naruto asked sounding disappointed.

"Because your stamina is an abnormality. And because I say so" he said, sounding more happy like he was joking at the ending. Naruto only sighed, too fed up with arguing with his sensei to care.

They put up three tents, one smaller and two bigger ones.

"Okay, me and Kurenai will take that one" Kakashi said as he pointed towards the smaller one.

"You girls can take that one and the boys that one" Kurenai then filled in as she pointed at the two tents.

"And I guess Akamaru can sleep outside, right Kiba?" Kakashi then asked the brown haired boy.

"Yeah, I guess he can do that" Kiba answered, obviously not really pleased with his precious dog sleeping outside in the cold.

"Okay, then we will take the first watch" Kakashi then said.

"Who wanna take the second one?" he then asked them. It went quiet for quite some time. Nobody said anything. Then after a while Naruto spoke up.

"Alright, I'll take the second watch" before Kakashi could answer Hinata spoke up.

"I can take it too"

"Okay, good. Now the third watch?" Kakashi then continued.

Hinata felt slightly shocked, she was planning on trying to get the watch together with him, but she didn't expect herself to say it so boldly and quickly. She looked over at Naruto and saw that he was watching her. She smiled to him and he smiled back at her.

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Naruto felt slightly surprised about Hinata being so quick about offering herself as second watch after the fact that he already offered himself. Before she had seemed just as non wanting as the rest of them. Then the whole thing with her feelings towards him that Kiba reviled didn't help much against the thoughts that now entered his mind. Would she try to tell him about it tonight? Had she found out that he had heard and now was going to tell him that it wasn't for real? Did she think he was a fool for acting like this around her? He had after all made it pretty clear that he kind of liked her a little bit, she probably had an easy time seeing things like that and understood. She probably didn't even feel anything like that towards him. Then he shock it of, why would she make sure to get the same watch as him to tell something like that? Stupid Naruto, just plain stupid.

(A/N Yes he is referring to himself in third person when he's thinking right now XD)

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After way too little time Naruto was waken by Kakashi.

"Naruto, it's your watch now" the masked shinobi said as he shook the boy to life again.

"Hnn" was the only reply. Naruto did however sit up and manage to get out of his sleeping bag. When he got out of the tent Hinata was already sitting at the fire, not even looking tired.

"Hi Hinata-chan" he said as he walked over to her.

"Hi Naruto-kun" she answers him. He sits down besides her.

"Man I hate watches, nothing ever happens anyway" he says sounding just as Shikamaru.

"I mean, sure I see why there necessary, but they're just so ... troublesome" he then adds. To this Hinata starts to giggle. Naruto looks over at her.

"Hey, what's so funny?" he asked her.

"Nothing, just you really sounded like Shikamaru-san right now!" she said between the giggles.

"What? I did?" he asked her. "Yeah I guess I did he he" he then adds as he realizes that he did sound like Shikamaru. To this he also brings up his hand to the back of his neck as he laughs a little bit with Hinata.

They soon stops laughing and become quiet, but just as at the Hokage monument it isn't a awkward silence, but a nice one. They look at each other and smile. After a while Hinata looked up at the sky. Naruto doesn't follow her gaze, he instead continue on looking at Hinata. Now looking at her more directly, taking in how she looks.

"You see any stars?" he asks her after a while.

"Yeah" she answers him not looking away from the sky.

"Ain't it hard to see them because of the trees?"

"Well, harder then at the Hokage monument, but you can still yet see them" she answers him. Now looking away from the enchanting sky in to his enchanting blue eyes.

"Well, I know about what you mean with it being easy to watch them there" he says giving her a smile. Once again the same silence as before comes around, there aren't anything to say. Therefore they don't speak, they don't have to. The rest of the watch they just sit there quiet, watching in to the fire or maybe at the stars. Until it was Sakura and Kiba's turn, they had wanted the third one together. Naruto turned towards Hinata to find her sitting there sleeping. He hadn't even noticed her head winding up at his shoulder. He merely smiled at the girl before he carefully removed her head and put her on the ground. He then went to wake up Kiba. When he got back out he picked her up and went to the girls' tent.

"Hey Sakura-chan it's your watch now"

He could hear a suppressed okay from within the tent.

"Hey, Sakura-chan can you open up for me, Hinata-chan has fallen asleep and my hands a pretty full by carrying her right now"

"What? Oh, I'm sorry Naruto-kun I don't thinks it's would be that good if I let you in right now" he then could hear Sakura answer.

"Why not?"

"Well, I don't know how to say this"

Then Naruto understood.

"It's about Rin isn't it?"

"Yeah, hey how could you know?"

"She never sleeps with clothes, she even tried once when we had to sleep in the same tent as ero-sennin. She stopped herself when she saw that he had was taking notes. Eventually it became too hot in the tent for her so she went outside and slept"

"Nani? She always sleeps naked?"

"No, only when she sleeps in tents. I always tried to get ero-sennin to get us hotel rooms because of that. So just let me in so I can put Hinata-chan in her sleeping bag and then I can go and sleep too"

"Well, I don't know, I really don't want her to get angry at me" Sakura answered once again sounding unsure.

"Why don't you put her there so Sakura-chan can take her in to the tent? Or why don't you bring her with you in to our tent?" he could hear Kiba say from behind him. He could even hear the smirk that placed itself on Kiba's lips as he asked the second question.

"I'm not going to fall asleep in the same sleeping bag as her"

"Who said anything about the same sleeping bag?" Kiba asked him innocent. This made Naruto blush fiercely, even though he knew Kiba was just messing with his mind with the last question.

"Besides why don't you ask her first?" Kiba then asked him.

"She's asleep, I don't think I can get that much of an answer"

"You haven't tried have you?" Kiba then went to Naruto and bent down so his mouth was at Hinata's ear.

"Hey, Hinata-chan would you have anything against sleeping with Naruto?" he asked her.

"Hnn.. no" they could hear her say sleepy

"Okay, in the same or in a different sleeping bag then him?" he then asked her.

"Nnnn same" she said in the same sleepy voice. Kiba now stood up with a big smirk on his face. Naruto just stood there shocked, his blush could right now almost rival with the ones Hinata used to have.

"There you see" was all Kiba said before he went and sat down by the fire place. Naruto still just stood there shocked. Right after Kiba sat down Sakura came with the same kind of smirk as Kiba and took Hinata from his arms. She went in to their tent and put her in her sleeping bag and then went to sit next to Kiba. Naruto had by now went in to the boys' tent.

Sakura went to her boyfriend and sat down next to him. She gave him a kiss. Then they just sat there.

"So, how did you do that?" she asked him after a while.

"How did I do what?"

"Make her say that?"

"I didn't do anything" he answered, for some reason sounding more serious.

"you didn't? Then how..."

"You know about her mom don't you?" he asked her turning his head towards her.

"Yeah, but.."

"It was after her mom's death that her father was beginning to treat her like he does. She became so heartbroken that she couldn't concentrate properly, he thought it was because she was weak. Mainly because he was just as heartbroken. Ever since that she has been sleeping very lightly because of her sorrow after her mom's death and because of how she was treated. Even though she doesn't grief her mom still, and she's treated better by her father the light sleeping is still there. Me and Shino discovered this pretty soon since she spoke in her sleep, later on we noticed that she would answer you if you asked her something. And every time it turned out that she always told the truth when she was asleep" he said turning his head towards the fire again.

"Oh, so what she just said was actually the truth?" Sakura asked him.

"Yeah" he said his smile getting back.

Naruto woke up the next morning to the smell of their breakfast. When he opened his eyes he saw that Kiba was still asleep. There weren't much that could get Kiba out of bed early. Naruto got out of his sleeping bag and out of the tent. When he walked out he saw that he was kind of the second one to wake up, Kurenai was the first one. Other wise only Rin and Shino were up, but they had been up since their watch started.

"Good morning" he said sleepy

"Good morning teinousha" Rin answered him. She was sitting looking in to the fire. Shino was sitting next to her stirring in a pot over the fire. Kurenai was sitting at the other side of the fire. He went and sat down in between Kurenai and Rin sniffing in the air.

"Oi, Shino-kun what is that?" he asked the hooded boy.

"Just ordinary stew" Shino answered in his usual monotone voice.

"I know ordinary stew, and that doesn't smell like it" Naruto answered him.

"Well, you've never had my ordinary stew now have you?" Shino said as he turned his head towards Naruto giving him an angry glare. The effect however weren't that good since Naruto couldn't actually see the glare because of the glasses.

"Guess you're right" Naruto answered and shrugged his shoulders a little bit.

"Rin-chan, this is almost ready can you go wake the other girls?" Shino said after a while.

"Sure" she answered simply and stood up. '_Rin-_chan_? When did Shino start calling Rin chan?' _Naruto and Kurenai both thought.

"Kurenai-sensei, could you go wake Kakashi-sensei up?" he then asked her disrupting her thoughts.

"Okay"

"So, should I go wake up Kiba-kun?" Naruto asked Shino.

"No, I was planning on letting Sakura-san doing that. There's almost nothing else now a days that can wake him up properly" Shino answered and explained.

"He he, guess you're right about that"

Soon Rin came out of the tent again, now in company of Hinata and Sakura. Naruto looked over at Hinata and got eye contact with her. When he did he blushed and looked away. Sakura saw this and smirked a little bit at her friend's embarrassment.

"Sakura-san, could you go and wake up Kiba-kun?" Shino asked the pink haired girl.

She looked over at him, looking slightly surprised at first that he spoke to her.

"Hai" she then said and went in to the boys' tent.

Hinata and Rin went to sit at the fire. Rin once again sat down besides Shino. Hinata in her tries to get closer to Naruto ignored her shy-self and boldly sat down besides her crush.

"Good morning Naruto-kun" she said smiling at him. He turned his face towards her.

"Good morning Hinata-chan" he answered her smiling too. Then he quickly looked away as the thought of last night's events once again came back to him. Could what she said really have been true? If they were he had just the more reasons to believe that she did love him. Something he didn't return, at least not yet. Naruto had noticed that he liked the girl more and more. Her timid way was just so cute, and those beautiful lavender eyes. He noticed himself sitting there and watching Hinata. He shook his head slightly and looked away again.

"Naruto-kun" he could hear someone say. He looked up and found Shino sitting there reaching out a bowl with stew towards Naruto.

"Oh, Arigatou" he said as he took the bowl.

"Itadakimasu" they all say before they started to eat just Shino's ordinary stew.

"So, we'll arrive at Suna a couple of days later than you, you are to wait there until we arrive. Is that understood?" Kakashi asked them.

"Hai" all six of them said in unison.

"Good. Ja Ne" he then said before he and Kurenai ran of away from the six teenagers. Six teenagers, three boys and three girls. One boy and one girl already a couple. The question is, what could happen between three teenage boys and three teenage girls in just two days?

**A/N: So what about the ending? I hadn't planned it so I actually sat and laughed to myself as I wrote it XD.**

**So, the two chapters in one day part. For some reason I can't upload chapters at my computer at home. I can only do it in school and at my dad's place, which I go to every second weekend. And now it's Christmas soon, so I'm gonna have a Christmas brake for a couple of weeks. Brings up arms to face as protection **

**Please don't hurt me!!**

**Please Review.**


	9. Exotic flavours and looks

**MERRY CHRISTMAS TO YOU ALL.**

**This is my Christmas present to all you wonderful readers of A Jinchuuriki's way!**

**(In Sweden we get the Christmas presents after dinner the 24th, not on the morning on 25th)**

**Disclaimer: I don't own shit**

**And a quick than you to all the reviewers. Thank you Xela Cir for reading despite the yaoi. Than you Pokannicknow for completely boosting my confidence after chapter 6!**

**And thanks to all you others who have reviewed!**

**Now on with the chapter!**

Chapter 9: Exotic flavours and looks

The six teenagers and the big white dog started to walk along the path towards Suna once again. Kiba and Sakura were walking next to each other with Akamaru behind them. A little bit in front of them Hinata was walking next to Rin surprisingly. It looked like that they talked easily with each other, they smiled and laughed a little bit. Naruto couldn't hear them however. The two girls were walking too far behind him for him to hear. Despite that he still yet tried to hear, he was slightly afraid that Rin would do something that could upset Hinata. Not by purpose to be mean, but to maybe tease her about something. She liked to pull pranks, and to him Hinata seemed so frail, therefore he was afraid Rin might hurt her. He didn't have anything other to do anyway, Shino wasn't exactly the funniest person to be around when you're the number one loudmouth of Konoha. After a while he just gave up.

"Ahh, it's hopeless I just can't hear them" he said out loud to no one. Luckily enough the girls couldn't hear him, in that case he wouldn't be walking there anymore. That moment he probably would be in the air, kicked up there by Rin.

"What is it that is hopeless?" Shino then asked him without curiosity.

"Hearing what Rin is saying to Hinata, I'm worried she will say something she should regret" Naruto said without showing any real concentration on Shino. Despite his earlier claim he still yet tried to hear the girls.

"_Should _regret?" Shino asked him, now sounding a little more curious weirdly enough.

"Yeah, she likes to tease and never gets that some actually gets hurt" Naruto said with just as little concentration on Shino.

"Okay, and you're afraid that Hinata is one of those who will get hurt?"

"What? Ehm... that's not how I meant it…" Naruto said sounding a bit embarrassed and apologetic, his hand at the back of his neck.

"I just meant that I don't want Hinata to get hurt because of... ah, I don't know really. I guess I just don't want her to get hurt, just leave it at that okay!"

Shino just smirked slightly in the protection of his clothes.

In the afternoon they reached a small town. Instead of just going right by it like everybody else expected Shino walked in to it.

"Hey, Shino-kun where are you goin'?" Kiba asked him. Everybody had stopped to look at the hooded boy except Rin that had kept walking with him. Shino stopped and turned around towards them.

"In to town" he said as if it was the most obvious and natural thing in the world.

"Why are you goin' in to town?" Kiba then asked him.

"To eat and to get room for the night of course" he then said in the same way.

"Weren't we supposed to go straight to Suna, and sleep in the tents all the way?" Kiba asked.

"Do you want to sleep outside in the tent and take watch or do you want to sleep inside i a bed?" Shino then asked them.

"I guess you're right" Naruto who was eager to sleep in a bed said before Kiba could say anything against Shino again. So now the six shinobis started to walk in to town. Still yet Kiba wondered why. Shino never was one to go against order. Still yet here he was saying that they were to sleep in town despite their budget that was planned for camping.

They decided to go find a place to stay at first to have a place to stash their bags. Besides it wasn't time for dinner yet.

Despite Shino's want for going in to town they still yet had a low budget and couldn't let it show that they had spent too much of it in this short time. Therefore they couldn't stay at an expensive hotel, and stayed at a hostel. Furthermore they could only get one room, otherwise it would be too obvious they hadn't camped out in the forest on their way to Suna.

So the six teenagers and the oversized dog walked in to the only hostel in town that allowed animals. The owner was turned with his back against them. Shino walked up to the counter.

"One room for six people and a dog if you got one please" he said to the back of the owner. The owner turns around to answer.

"Well, I'm sorry, the biggest ones we got are for four people. But I do think we have some spare mattresses somewhere that you could get" the person said. He didn't look like the owner anymore. He looked far too young for that. He actually looked their age. He had a plain look that you wouldn't be able to remember even if your life depended on it. He had short brown hair and brown eyes.

"Okay, I don't see that we have much better options" Shino said to him.

"Good, here's your key" the boy at the counter said as he reached over a key to Shino.

"Arigatou" Shino replied before they went of further in to the hostel to find their room.

Pretty soon they reached the room, the hostel wasn't exactly big or something. It had four normal sized beds. Two at each side of the room, and a table in between the two pair of beds. Rin went straight to the bed furthest to the left and put her bag on it. Shino put his on the bed beside hers. Kiba and Sakura practically ran for the bed furthest to the right putting both of their bags on the same bag. So, one bed and two people left. Hinata and Naruto stood in the door opening and looked at each other. They jumped forward in the exact same moment going for the bed. Naruto efficiently pushed Hinata out of her track and made the table get in her way. This did however not help that much, because of her limberness she easily jumped over the table and landed on the bed. At the same moment she landed on the bed Naruto did the same. They looked at each other. Hinata standing where the pillow should be and Naruto at the foot of the bed.

"You could just both sleep in it together" Kiba then suggested hiding his inner smirk. They looked over at him only turning their heads, and then turning their heads slowly towards each other again.

"Well, I guess it looks like we'll have to share it then" Naruto joked a little bit.

"Hell no, you're sleeping on the floor" Hinata then said with a sudden confidence she usually only had with Kiba.

"What? No I won't" Naruto answered her statement. Hinata just looked at him for a while. Then she jumped up a little bit and landed again now sitting on the bed and claimed "Mine!" she looked at Naruto practically daring him to say anything against her with her look. He looked at her in utter shock, was this really the shy Hyuuga Hinata? Because of the shock he wasn't in any state to fight over the bed with her. Therefore he stepped down letting her have it.

"Okay, I guess it is yours after all, and I'll just get the cold and hard floor" he said trying to give her bad conscience in a last attempt to win the bed. Or better yet, to get to share it with her.

"Yeah, I guess you will" she said not showing her bad conscience that now came.

Kiba just shock his head at the two, it was so obvious that they liked each other. Not only that Hinata had liked Naruto but the other way around too. All these years when they had going around and saying that Naruto was probably the densest person there was, and here Hinata was all along apparently just as dense.

"I'm going out for a walk" they could hear a monotone voice said. Kiba looked up to see his hooded team-mate at the door

"Alright" the brown haired boy said.

"I'll go with you" he then could hear from the other side of the room. It had been Rin that had decided to go with Shino.

The other four teenagers just looked at them surprised as they walked out of the door together.

The door shut behind them. Kiba and Naruto looked at each other for a brief second before starting to walk towards the door.

"I'm going out for a walk too" Kiba said.

"Yeah, me too" Naruto then added.

"Hell you are" Sakura said in a harsh matter of fact tone. The boys stopped dead in their tracks as they heard her tone. They turned around.

"Why not?" Kiba asked as they tried to look innocent.

"Because you just want to sneak on Shino and Rin, and I won't let you do that" she explained in the same matter of fact tone. Naruto and Kiba turned their heads towards each other. Then their heads started to hang as they walked back to their earlier positions in the room. Sakura's wrath combined with her inhuman strength was not something they wanted to be exposed to.

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Shino and Rin walked quietly through the town and in to the surrounding forest. They quite often took walks together in Konoha, usually the case was that Rin went with Shino as he went out to search for rare bugs. Usually she borrowed his bugs to train on her chakra control.

"You wanna train?" he asked her as usual as he stretched out his arm towards her.

"Na, I don't feel like training today" she said as she shook her head a little bit.

"Okay" was all he said as he lowered his arm again. Then they continued walking there quietly next to each other.

"Shino-kun" Rin said after a while.

"Yeah?" he asked her waiting for her to continue. She breathed in as if she wanted to tell him, but instead of saying anything she just breathed out again in a sigh. She then suddenly stopped. Shino stopped next to her and turned towards her.

"What is it?" he asked her. She just looked at him for a while. Then she reached up and took of his hood. Then when standing there she decided to take of his glasses also. She hadn't planned it since she was afraid that she would freeze just as the last time. Then on the other hand now she knew what to expect, so she shouldn't freeze this time. She was wrong, despite knowing how his eyes look she froze. That white little ring around his pupils looked like they actually did shine, and the darker parts looked like they stretched out far longer than his eyes. Like the dark parts engulfed her, and the white circle was truly the only light.

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Shino noticed the girl freeze in her position with her hands at his face. Standing so close to him. He felt extremely exposed without the usual protection of his hood and glasses. He felt his face heat up slightly from her intense gaze on it. He then got the strangest urge, all his neck muscles told him to close the distance between their faces and put his lips on hers. He really hadn't felt interested in a girl in that way ever, therefore he never had felt like doing anything near kissing. Then he felt himself lose control over his own muscles and starting to slowly close the distance between them.

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Rin noticed his face starting to get closer to hers. She felt her face heat up because of it. She had never really felt interested in a guy in that way before. So she didn't really know what to do right then, so she decided to listen to her instincts. She felt her own face starting to close the distance between them just as Shino's. Only that hers went slightly faster then his. Soon she could feel his lips on hers, and she seriously started to wonder why she hadn't been interested in guys earlier.

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'_Are they…. K-k-k-kissing?? What the…' _Naruto thought as he stood in the bushes and saw Shino and Rin make out.

Eventually Hinata had gone out for a walk as well. That's when Naruto and Kiba took the opportunity. Kiba started to stall Sakura with kisses as Naruto sneaked out. Sure, Kiba would have wanted to go with also, but the only way for him to know was at the moment if Naruto went alone and then told him. That was the reason for Naruto being able to stand there looking at the couple.

He stood there utterly shocked not able to even think. Then he suddenly out of nowhere remembered that he should disparate so that the real Naruto could get to know this. He was after all only a kage bunshin. So he poofed away and soon the real Naruto stopped dead in his track standing there and stuttering in his thoughts.

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As they broke apart for air Rin thought she heard a low poof. She looked at the bushes next to them and saw the hint of smoke that must have been there just a second ago.

"Well, I guess I shouldn't have counted on it being a secret for such a long time anyway" she said.

"What do you mean?" Shino asked her.

"One of Naruto's bunshins was here just a moment ago" she explained and looked back in to his eyes.

"So the other ones should know by now"

"Yep"

"Okay" he said with a smile as he once again closed the distance between their faces for another kiss.

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"SHINO AND RIN ARE KISSING!" Naruto screamed as he barged in to their room. He was met with the sight of Kiba and Sakura jumping away from each other because of the shock. They looked shocked at him for a while before they finally understood what he had said.

"They were what???" Sakura almost screamed.

"They were kissing" Naruto repeated himself, only a little calmer this time.

"Nani? Are you sure?" she asked him.

"Of course I am, do you think I don't know how a kiss looks?" he asked her a little irritated.

"Of course I don't think that, it just sounds so strange with them two kissing" she said.

"But you have to tell me more!" she then said sounding curious. Kiba and Naruto looked at her surprised.

"Wasn't you the one who said we couldn't go and peek on them?" Kiba asked her.

"Well who cares what I said earlier, what's more important is what I'm saying right now" she said as she waved her hand in the air.

"Ehm, okay, well there aren't that much to tell. Actually it's kind of blurry because of the bunshin's shock. But it did look like they enjoyed themselves, or should I say each other, very much" he said growing a smirk at the ending.

They then were interrupted by Hinata barging in through the door. She closed it and rested at his panting heavily. She looked at them with horror in her eyes. She stopped her gaze at Sakura.

"You shouldn't go out on you own" she told her.

"Why?" Sakura asked her confused.

"It's exotic week at the brothels" was all she said as explanation before she fainted.

Hinata woke up blinking. She sat up and found herself on her bed in the room. Her three friends were all sitting at the table watching her with worry in their eyes. When they saw that she had woken up Naruto jumped over to her.

"Hinata-chan are you alright?" he asked her with the same worry in his voice.

"Yeah I'm alright Naruto-kun" she replied looking a little startled.

"What happened Hinata-chan?" Kiba asked his team mate. Hinata turned her head towards him.

"It's exotic week at the brothels" was all she said at first. The other three looked confused at her. Then she continued.

"Since this is mostly a stop on the way kind of town there are many brothels here. And this week it's exotic week. They are looking for girls with exotic looks. My eyes are apparently very exotic over here. And I'm guessing Sakura-chan's hair are as well" she explained to them.

"Nani? They tried to hire you at the brothels?" Naruto asked her shocked.

"Hai, they didn't only asking me to work there but they also chased me all the way back here. So I guess the Byakugan is one of the most exotic things over here" she then said. The shock she had been wearing on her face since she entered the room started to drain from her face slowly now.

"They're outside right now?" Naruto asked her sounding slightly aggravated

"No, I managed to lose them on the way here"

"Okay, good" Naruto said, Hinata could feel the tenseness poor of off him.

"So, neither of us should go outside alone?" Sakura asked her then.

"No, I don't think so. Since they're civilians we can only say no and hope they listen. But they don't listen to us girls. But I do think they would listen if it was a guy who said no" she explained why. Sakura tensed at this, she really didn't like it when she was treated unfair just because she was a girl.

"I don't about Rin-chan though?" Hinata asked them.

"Don't worry, I think that Shino-kun can keep her from hurting them despite them being civilians. She isn't that exotic looking anyway" he said as if that was what Hinata had been worrying about. "He's probably keeping her too busy to notice them anyway" He then said with a smirk. Hinata looked confused at him.

"What do you mean Naruto-kun?" she asked him.

"You noticed how he has started calling her Rin-_chan_?" he asked her without losing the smirk. First she wondered what he meant, then it hit her.

"They are?" she asked shocked. He merely nodded.

"Oh my god" was all she said.

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Rin and Shino walked through town hand in hand this time. They figured they should just make it clear since they knew that Naruto already knew anyway. They walked in to the hostel where their room was. The guy at the counter turned around when he heard the door open.

"Ah, it's you guys, I have the extra mattresses here now" he said to them. Shino and Rin looked at each other.

"Wouldn't it be fun to take it just so Naruto has to sleep on the floor?" Rin asked the boy that stood there next to her. He only smirked a little bit as a reply. Rin took it as a yes.

"We only need one" she said to the guy that worked there before went with him to get the extra sleeping place.

Shino carried the mattress as they walked towards their room. Rin stopped just outside the door. She sighed once lightly before she reached out her hand to open the door. She stopped however just centimetres away from the doorknob. She turned her head towards Shino, now carrying a smug smile on her face.

"What about messing a little with the Teinousha?"

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"TEINOUSHA" Rin screamed as she barged in through the door. Naruto's head snapped up, his face held a look of horror. He quickly jumped behind Hinata that was sitting on the bed. His hands on her waist, he crouched behind her looking out behind her back.

"YOU THINK IT'S FUN TO SNEAK ON PEOPLE?" Rin screamed as she half ran towards them. Hinata brought up her hands to her face as protection.

"And then you're a coward and hide behind a girl" she said sounding both irritated and letting the smirk shine through her voice.

"Well, I only hide behind her because I know you wouldn't hurt her" he explained himself. "And she has already beaten the crap out of you once anyway" he then added. Rin smirked a little bit.

"Oh, so what would you have done if you did think I would hurt her?" she asked him ignoring the part about that Hinata had already beaten the crap out of her.

"Would you have taken care of your self, or would you have protected her instead?" she asked him with a smug smile.

"Protected her of course, she's my friend and therefore one of my important people" he said as if it was the most natural thing in the world. What he apparently hadn't counted with was Hinata falling against him limp. She still was slightly startled when he hid behind her, and his hands on her waist didn't help. Rin had sawn how close the girl had been to fainting. So she used it and made her faint, because she knew what and how Naruto would've answered the question. So because of that Naruto was now standing with an unconscious Hinata in his arms. He had however learned from earlier. This time he didn't become extremely worried and start to shake her. He merely picked her up and walked over to her bed and put her on it. Then he looked over at Rin slightly irritated.

'_Was that really necessary?' _She could hear him say in her head.

'_I don't know if it was necessary but it was defiantly fun' _she answered in his face not losing the smug smile.

"Well, well, well wasn't this an efficient way to lose focus from you and Shino-kun?" Sakura said with a smug smile of her own. Rin looked over at her looking slightly horrified.

"So, why don't you tell us" Sakura said. "Kizume" she added after a while with a smug smile, knowing that Rin now defiantly would answer.

Rin looked shocked at her. The two girls had come to an agreement earlier. Sakura hadn't wanted Rin to look at herself as Sakura's servant in any way. Rin on the other hand couldn't accept not being her servant. So they compromised, she wasn't to see herself as Sakura's servant, except when Sakura called her by her surname.

It looked as if Rin seriously wanted to look down from Sakura's gaze, but she managed to keep it.

"We kissed" she replied to Sakura still holding the pink haired girl's gaze.

"Well, we already know that, tell us more Kizume" Sakura said with the same smug smile, letting Rin know that it wasn't truly for real. At this the floor became too interesting for Rin. Her gaze moved from Sakura's eyes to the floor and a blush found its way to her face. By now Shino stepped in to help her.

"Well, for your information all we did was kiss. Not that it's any of your business anyway, so don't bug Rin-chan about it like that anymore please"

Everybody except Rin looked at Shino surprised.

"Did you actually say all of that at once without explaining a move you did in a fight?" Kiba asked him. Shino blinked once behind his glasses, he hadn't realized it himself that he had spoken so many words at once.

"Apparently" was all he replied soothing his friends with the short reply.

"Hey, Rin-chan I'm sorry" Sakura said "But you gotta learn to ignore me when I call you Kizume to joke with you" she then added.

"Yeah, maybe so" Rin said as she scratched her neck.

"Well I'm hungry, if I'm not the only one I think we should try to wake Hinata and then go out and eat" Kiba now said interrupting the earlier conversation.

**A/N: So hope you liked your Christmas present:P**

**Once again sorry on forehand for all the late updates that will come "/**

**Well well, hope you liked this chapter! Please review!**

**Mata Ne**


	10. Interruptions and blushing

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.**

**HAPPY NEW YEAR'S EVE!**

**So, finally at my dad's place again :P Now I can upload the tenth chapter. But do not fear! Because it's a little bit more then a week before school starts once more and I can upload more regularly!**

Chapter 10: Interruptions and blushing

The five other teenagers had soon wakened Hinata and went out in to the city. They walked through the city searching for cheap place to eat. They soon saw what Hinata had meant with exotic week. It was actually quite surprising that they hadn't noticed it earlier. It was almost everywhere.

Sakura could even feel the looks she got because of her hair. Brothels owners everywhere snapped their heads towards her when she passed. Not only brothels and hostess club owners but also usual men on the street. After a while she felt Kiba's arm wrap around her protectively. She looked up at him, he wasn't looking at her and he looked extremely irritated. She smiled a little bit at his jealous and protective ways. She liked them both, it made her feel loved. She was truly happy she had been able to get over her crush on Sasuke. Even though she missed him and wanted him back she didn't feel the same way about him anymore. She was also happy that she had accepted Kiba's offer on a date. Because right now she had a really hard time imagining a life without him. He was just so caring and nice, she really did love him.

When she had been left alone three years ago as Naruto went on his training trip with Jiraiya she had soon thought that everything was too quiet. Eventually she had starting to hang out with Kiba, she had naturally been drawn to him because of him being somewhat of a loudmouth just as Naruto. Not anywhere near as big Naruto, but still yet loud. Then after a while Kiba had asked her out.

After a while they found a ramen stand. It was one of the cheapest places and Naruto had started bugging them about it when they saw it until they agreed to eat there. Naruto eagerly entered the stand and sat down at one of the stools.

"Konnichi wa, what would you like?" the man behind the counter asked them.

"One pork ramen please" Naruto replied.

"One for me too" Rin added.

"A miso ramen please" Shino said.

"A chicken ramen here" Kiba said.

"I would like one chicken too" Hinata said as she sat down next to Naruto.

"I think I would want a Pork ramen me too" Sakura then said adding the last bowl of their order. Soon they got their food and started to eat.

"Itadakimasu" they said as they broke apart their chopsticks before they started to eat.

Naruto and Kiba quickly gulped theirs down as the others ate their portions a little bit slower, in a more human speed.

"I know you said it wasn't any of my business, but I really am curious. Was this like the first time you two...?" Sakura asked after a while looking at Shino and Rin.

"Yeah, it was the first time we kissed" Rin answered her without blinking. She had once again regained her relaxed and non-caring way.

"It didn't look like that" Naruto said with a mug smile as he looked up from his already finished bowl. Rin closed her eyes and they could all easily see her eyebrow twitching. Still yet Naruto didn't seem to realize his mistake. All the others wondered why he still had that smirk on his face. Shouldn't he be scared to death by now? Then Rin calmed down in some seemingly inhuman way and looked up at Naruto slightly surprised. Then her expression softened and she smiled happily to him. His smile had unnoticed by the others gone from a smirk to a smile just like Rin's.

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At that moment Rin felt so happy. Despite her and Naruto's constant fights they were truly close. As both were Jinchuuriki's and had spent the last year together training it was inevitable. Therefore what he thought meant a lot to her. She very often took his advice higher then other even if it was about something he had no clue about just because he was Naruto. So when he said that he was happy for her and Shino it didn't matter to her what he had said out loud. Only what she had heard in her head.

'_Thank you'_ she told him in his head.

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Naruto just smiled back at her, he had truly meant what he said. He was really happy for her and Shino. She did after all mean very much to him. She was one of his absolute best friends. Probably the only one knowing everything that he knew about him.

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The others watched as the slightly strange scene took its place in front of them. Then all of a sudden Rin seemed to snap out of her trans.

"Urusai Teinousha" She told Naruto, both the words didn't seem to have the same edge to them as usual. Naruto merely smiled at her.

It didn't take long before all of them had eaten up. As they walked there in town trying to decide what to do next a man came up to Sakura despite Kiba's arm around her.

"Hello, young lady. I was just wondering if you might be interested in working at my brothel. With that body, and your exotic colours I'm sure you would be a huge hit" he said to her.

"No thank you" Sakura could feel Kiba getting tense besides her.

"Are you sure, you would get a high salary you know?" he then coaxed. Sakura felt Kiba wanting to say something, then she remembered Hinata saying that they probably would listen better to one of the guys. So she let him talk.

"Didn't you hear her? Haruno-sama said that she was not interested" she could hear from behind. She turned her head and saw an angry looking Rin standing there.

"And who are you then?" the man asked Rin with happiness. So many young good looking women from other places then here there were in town today.

"That's none of you business" Rin said as she walked up to the man. She then grabbed him by the collar and lifted him up slightly from the ground holding his face close to hers.

"And you should be happy it isn't. Cause I don't like you, and if I knew you I might've been able to hurt you. But now I can't hurt any civilian just like that now can I" she said to him sounding just as angry as she looked. The man looked frightened at her too afraid to dare to try to reach the ground with his feet.

"So now you are going to leave Haruno-sama and us alone otherwise I'm gonna forget about you being a civilian, okay?" she then told him. The man just nodded frightened. He wasn't used to this kind of response. Usually when the woman wasn't interested and a man was with he said no and walked away ignoring him. Never before had anybody, man nor woman threatened him this way. As soon as Rin had let go of him he ran away in a sudden hurry.

"You shouldn't have done that" Sakura told her.

"You don't like the fact that he's not bugging you anymore?" Rin asked her.

"Well of course I do, but we aren't supposed to threaten civilians" Sakura replied.

"I don't think anybody would care about that" Rin said as she waved Sakura off.

"I think I feel like going back to the hostel, I'm getting too irritated by all these men starring at Sakura right now" Kiba said after a while.

"Yeah, you're right" Sakura said.

"Okay, we only need to buy some food for tomorrow at first then we can go back" Shino said.

"I could go buy it" Hinata offered herself.

"Are you sure? Isn't it better if you don't go alone?" Kiba asked her.

"I can go with her" Naruto then said.

"Arigatou" Hinata said with a smile.

"Okay, good then we can go back to the hostel then" Shino said and turned towards the hostel. The other ones started to follow him and left alone were Hinata and Naruto.

"So, are we going then?" Naruto asked Hinata.

"Mm" she said as she nodded, and of they were.

Pretty soon they had found everything they needed and started to walk back to the hostel. As they walked there Hinata once again felt all men looking at her because of her eyes. She was really happy that she wasn't alone this time. It didn't take long before somebody came up to them.

"Are you interested at e job at my hostess club darling?" A woman in her 50s asked Hinata.

"She isn't interested" Naruto said before Hinata could reply. When he talked Hinata could feel his arm wrap around her. He then turned her around and started to walk away from there not letting go of her.

"I hope it's okay, I just think they would listen more if they saw me as your boyfriend" he whispered in her ear after a while.

"It's alright Naruto-kun" Hinata said and looked up smiling slightly at him.

It didn't take long before somebody else came up to them. This time it was a pretty large man looking as if he thought he owned the world or something. Naruto just put up his hand in front of the man's face.

"She's not interested" he said without stopping him and Hinata.

"Oi, bastard why don't you let the girl answer for herself?" The man yelled after them.

Naruto just ignored him and kept on walking.

"Oi, I'm talking to you bastard" the man yelled as he started to run after them. Naruto still yet just ignored him, so the man soon caught up with them. He grabbed Naruto's shoulder, turned him around and punched him in the face. He didn't look if Naruto had fallen down, he just turned to Hinata.

"So, young lady are you interested at working at my brothel?" he then asked with a suddenly honeysweet voice.

"I said that she wasn't interested" he could hear Naruto say. He turned around to look at him. His eyes widened in shock, nobody had ever been able to stand after a punch from him. They all fainted.

"Come, Hinata-chan" Naruto said before he grabbed Hinata and started to walk once again. The man just stood there looking shocked for a while. Then he regained consciousness.

"Oi, who the fuck are you bastard?" he yelled after Naruto when he once again ran after them. This time Naruto couldn't hold in his irritation and just ignore him anymore. Naruto stopped and tried to turn around.

"Just ignore him Naruto-kun" Hinata said to him as she stopped him from turning around. Naruto sighed irritated before he started to walk again. When he did they could hear the man call out to them.

"Oi, Bastard wait!" when he did Naruto looked at Hinata. She looked back at him and shock her head at his expression.

"Let's just run away from him" she then said.

"Hai" Naruto said and nodded. They then both charged chakra in to their feet and jumped up on a roof. The man stopped dead in his tracks and shocked stared after them. Who were those people? The guy had barely reacted when he hit him and now both of them easily jumped up on a roof. Oh. No they couldn't be Shinobis now could they? Or could they?

With their new speed it didn't take long before they arrived at the hostel. Naruto still hadn't let go of Hinata. None of them had said a word yet, Naruto was too angry. Then Hinata stopped him before they walked in.

"Calm down Naruto-kun" she told him as she turned around looking at him. Naruto still wouldn't let go so she was almost pressed up against his chest when she turned around.

"You don't have to be angry, if anybody should be angry it should be me. Especially since you barely seemed to notice that he actually punched you" She then said.

"Yeah, I guess you're right" Naruto then said with a sigh. His grip on Hinata loosened slowly until she was free. She still yet kept pretty close to him, not as before but easily in reach.

"Didn't you feel it?" she then asked him.

"Feel what?"

"The Punch of course"

"Well actually, I did. It didn't hurt or anything but I could feel it. That's unusual when a mere civilian punches me" he then said. Hinata laughed a little bit as she shook her head.

Naruto laughed a little bit as well as his hand went up to the back of his neck. Then they went quiet and suddenly both of them realized how close they actually were. Both of them went quiet and looked in to each others' eyes.

Hinata could feel her cheeks heat up slightly as she how Naruto looked at her. Was he about to? Maybe I should do something. Maybe .. maybe. Then her thoughts became a big blur and not even she could tell what she was thinking about.

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Naruto lost himself in her lavender eyes. He so much felt like kissing her now. Maybe he should? OR, maybe she didn't want to? What should he do? Maybe she wanted him to.. to... to. Then after a while of wondering what she might have wanted him to do his thoughts also became a big blur.

He didn't even notice at first when his head started to move closer to hers.

---------------------------------------

Hinata snapped back to reality when she saw that his head started to move closer to hers. Inwards she totally froze. What was she supposed to do? Fortune for her she didn't freeze outwards. Her body acted on its own accord and she tilted her head upwards towards Naruto's head and towards his deep azure eyes.

------------------------------------------

'_Where are those two' _Kiba wondered as he walked through the corridor towards the main door. All of them had started to wonder where Hinata and Naruto had gone and he had gone out to see if they came soon.

As he opened the front door he stopped dead in his tracks. There Hinata and Naruto stood, their faces merely inches apart. They both snapped up when the door opened. They both looked almost horrified at who was standing in the door opening.

A Huge smirk spread across Kiba's face.

"So this is why you took so long" he said to them.

"We, we, we, we were just..." Naruto tried.

"You don't have to explain anything" Kiba said as he waved his hands and started to back in through the door again.

"I'll just leave you guys alone for a while longer then" he said. He still hadn't lost the smirk.

"Urusai" Hinata said as she freed herself from Naruto's arms. She passed Kiba in the door opening and walked straight by him and towards their room.

"Bummer" Kiba said jokingly to Naruto.

"Listen to your team mate" Naruto said as he looked at Kiba. He then followed after Hinata towards their room.

"Did it go well?" Shino asked them when they entered.

"Yeah, just ran in to somebody who couldn't take a no" Hinata said as she gave him the groceries. She then went to sit on her bed since the table was full now when Naruto had put himself on Kiba's empty chair.

"Hey, Naruto-kun I was sitting there" Kiba said as he entered the room.

"Yeah, you _were _sitting here" Naruto answered.

"What a coincidence that you came just when Kiba-kun went out to look for you" Sakura then said.

"Yeah, I really caught them" He said with a small smirk. Hinata looked at him with a look that almost pleaded to him not to tell them. She really didn't feel like taking their sneering right now. Kiba just nodded almost unseeingly at her. He wasn't planning on telling the others. That was defiantly not what Hinata and Naruto needed.

They decided to go to bed early since their long day of travelling tomorrow. They still yet had to reach Suna the next day, and since they had stopped early in the afternoon it was a little bit longer left than what was planned at first.

When Hinata laid there in here bed she couldn't stop thinking at what had almost happened. _'Stupid Kiba, just had to interfere of course. And tomorrow I won't have any time to talk to Naruto-kun. Hopefully I will when we are in Suna. But how big of a chance is that really? Then when Kakashi-sensei and Kurenai-sensei get there the mission will start for real. And then we're going home' _Hinata sighed and turned over to her back. She really needed to talk to Naruto. Hopefully she would be able to do so soon.

--------------------------------------------

On the floor Naruto was laying thinking on the same moment. _'Damn you Kiba. Oh, what will I do now then? Oh fuck if he hadn't interrupted it wouldn't be this complicated. Why did he have to go check when we were coming anyway?'. _He turned around and gazed up towards Hinata's bed. He could she her turn in her bed and look up at the ceiling. He wondered if she was asleep or laid awake also. Then she turned around again, now laying with her face towards him. Their eyes locked and they laid there for a while just looking at each other.

"Hi" Naruto whispered.

"Hi"

"Can't sleep?" he asked her in a whisper.

"Yeah, you neither right?" she asked him back.

"Nope" he replied.

"You wanna do something instead? Like watch the stars or something?" he asked her after a while.

"You two ain't going anywhere, I don't wanna have to go search all the hotels in town tomorrow morning" Kiba said as he tried to turn around in bed but failed because of the lack of space in his and Sakura's bed.

"Ah, urusai Kiba" Hinata said to him.

"Well, what Kiba-san says is true, we don't want to go looking for you two in every hotel in the morning. Not that we actually would mind you two taking in to a hotel together but we need to get going early tomorrow" Rin then said to them.

"Just shut up you too Rin" Naruto then said from his place on the floor.

"Well what they say is true, we don't mind you two hooking up , actually we want you two to hook up. Just not tonight since we need to get to Suna before nightfall tomorrow" Sakura then shot in repeating both Kiba and Rin.

"Urusai" both Hinata and Naruto said in unison.

"Naw, they're saying it together, ain't that just adorable" Shino then said half sleepy surprising everybody.

"Ha ha, yeah you're right Shino-kun" Rin laughed. By now both Hinata and Naruto blushed fiercely out of embarrassment.

The next morning Naruto was woken by Rin shaking him.

"Hey, wake up Teinousha. We gotta get going if we're gonna reach Suna by nightfall" she said before she walked away from him to her half packed bag. He groaned before he simply turned around to fall asleep again. It was just too early for him to wake up now. When Rin heard him move on his mattress she turned towards him again and looked at him. She sighed and shook her head, for some reason she still yet though he was awake and was going to get up soon. So when she heard him snore she snapped. In less then a second she was by his side.

"WAKE UP TEINOUSHA!" she screamed in to his ear. The blonde boy jumped by the shock and sat up in bed looking around surprised. The rest of the teenagers did the same from their places at their bags. Kiba even fell down on his butt. Akamaru barked out of the shook and showed his teeth as he turned towards the noise. When Naruto wasn't half asleep anymore he could localised the source of the noise. He looked angrily at Rin.

"Did you really have to do that?" he asked her sounding irritated. Rin just shrugged her shoulders and turned around towards her bag once more.

"You wouldn't wake up" she said without any interest before she once again started to pack her bag. Naruto muttered as he got out of bed and started to get dressed.

It didn't take long before all of them except Naruto were finished.

"Come on, hurry up Naruto-kun" Sakura said as she sat there next to Kiba on their bed.

"I don't see why you waited so long with waking me up" he said irritated has he violently stuffed something down in his bag.

"Hinata-san tried to wake you up at first but couldn't do it. We were busy packing so we don't know what happened but when we asked her she just blushed like a maniac. So then I tried when we realized you still slept" Rin said without any interest as she looked at her nails. Hinata looked at her with big eyes once again blushing like a maniac. When Naruto looked over at her she looked down on the extremely interesting floor. Naruto blushed a little bit worrying about what he might have done when asleep.

**A/N: So, hope you liked it. Personally I think that the scene when they are talking during the night is one of the better XD**

**GOTT NYTT ÅR! **

**Just gotta have some Swedish with:D**


	11. Kazekage, the Ichibii

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto**

**A/N: I am SO Sorry for the LATE upload. I was counting on uploading like a week a go or something. I haven't however. Why you might ask. Well because when I went home from my dad's place after New Year's Eve I accidentally forgot my memory stick which carries the story b. Not good in other words. It's still over there, but my wonderful cousin who had up till chapter 13 on her computer send me those three chapters I were missing on my computer :D **

**So here are chapter 11**

Chapter 11: Kazekage, the Ichibii

They got away quickly after Naruto had finished packing. They traveled quietly the rest of the day trying to keep a high pace. Right after noon they reached the desert. They continued through the hot and dry desert for hours. When dawn came and they didn't even see Suna at the horizon despite the flat landscape, Shino started to become a little worried. He didn't feel like having to camp in the desert because he felt like sleeping in town just because he wanted to have a private walk with Rin.

"Hey Hinata-chan, you see anything?" he asked Hinata. Even though the Byakugan might have been for short distance she still yet saw a little bit further then the rest of them.

"I'll check"she replied before she said Byakugan and looked a head of them. She did however not see any town at the horizon.

"No I'm sorry Shino-kun" she said with a sad voice. "No, wait a minute" she then said with more hope in her voice. As the wind blew further some air borne sand had moved and revieled something on the horizon.

"It's there, it's still very far away but I can see it" she then exclaimed happily.

"Good, then let's hurry so we get there sometime" Shino then said before they hurried of.

Soon before nightfall when they walked over a smaller hilltop they could see the town clearly. The big walls that reached far up towards the sky. The narrow opening in to town. They still had a long way there, but now they could see more than just a dot at the horizon.

They reached the town one hour after nightfall. They were stopped by the gateguards.

"Who are you and what are your business in town?" One of the men asked.

"We are from Konoha and are here to stay the night. It was actually your Kazekage who offered it when he heard we had a mission close to Suna" Shino said as he reached the man who had talked a scroll. The man opened the scroll and looked at it. He nodded a little bit at it before he closed it and handed it back to Shino.

"It looks good. Please report to the Kazekage's office so they know that you are in town for a while" he said before he went back to his vantage-point.

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They walked through the dark town towards the center of it. After a while they saw a big building in the middle, they guessed it was the Kazekage's office. When they entered the building it was dark and empty save a man sitting at a desk lit up by a small lamp. When the door opened he looked up and was quite shocked to see so many come in at this hour. Even if it wasn't that late it still was after nightfall. It had almost been empty in the streets when he walked from home, it really should be by now. The six teenagers and the dog walked up to the desk. As they got closer he noticed that all of them wore konoha-forehead protectors. He stood up at the sight of them.

"The Kazekage is waiting for you" he said without waiting for them to say anything. He walked around the desk and started to walk towards the Kazekage's office expecting them to follow.

"Do you know who we are?" Naruto asked the man walking in front of them.

"Of course, I saw your headbands. The Kazekage has been waiting for you quite some time today. You really did take your time didn't you?" The man replied without stopping or turning towards them.

Pretty soon even Shino started to wonder if they were in a genjutsu or something, could there possibly be so many stairs in one building? Not even the Hokage building had those many, still yet this house that was that just as big was able to contain that many stairs.

After surely the 50th stairs that they had thought _'This have to be the last one' _they finally came to a stop at a door. The man knocked at the door.

"The Konoha-nins have arrived Kazekage-sama" he said through the door.

"Let them in" came a monotone voice from within the door. Naruto reacted to it, he thought he recognised that voice.

The man opened the door and entered the room. It looked almost the same as the Hokage's office with a few differences. At the other side of the desk a red headed boy in their age was sitting. He looked at them with turquoise eyes.

"Gaara?" Naruto asked him surprised as he pointed towards the red head.

"Hai, Naruto-kun" he said in a monotone voice. Naruto looked suspiciosly at him not dropping his pointing finger.

"W-what are y-you d-doing in that chair?" he asked him. "Don't tell me you're the Kazekage" he then added.

"Well actually I am. And don't you know that it's impolite to point?" he said to Naruto, growing an almost unnoticable smirk at the ending. Naruto seemed to realize then that he had been pointing towards Gaara all this time. He shook his hand fiecerly a while before he snapped it behind his neck and started to laugh little nervously.

"Ah, gomen Gaara" he said. The man who had showed them the way trough the stair-filled building looked shocked at the boy for his seemingly lack of respect to the Kazekage. He didn't even present him as sama, only by his firstname without any suffix at all.

"It's all right. So, you really did take your time getting here, didn't you?" Gaara then asked them repeating what the man had said earlier.

"That is my fault Gaara-sama. Yesterday we found an almost perfect place to camp. So I decided that we should stay there despite the fact that it actually was too early to do so" Shino now put in.

"Hai" Gaara said as he nodded to Shino. "Aburame Shino, wasn't it?" he then asked him.

"Hai, you've got a good memory there Gaara-sama" Shino said to him.

"Hey, this is Rin-chan" Naruto then put in motioning towards the red headed girl. Gaara looked over at her. She bowed deeply to him as she spoke.

"Kizume Rin, it's pleasure to meat you Kazekage-sama"

"It's nice to meat you too Rin" Gaara said.

"Now I guess you want to sleep after the long day of traveling" he said as he stood up.

"Taiki-san, please show them where they are to sleep" he then said to the man.

"Hai" Taiki said as he bowed to Gaara and went out the room once again expecting them to just follow. They started to walk after him. Naruto didn't move however. When Rin started to walk after Shino he stopped her by grabbing her arm. She looked at him slightly surprised.

"Wait a minute Rin-chan" was all he said before he let go. Gaara who understood that it was about something Naruto wanted to speak in private about waited to ask him about it until the door closed.

"What is it that you want Naruto?" Gaara asked him sitting down once again.

"It's about Rin here" Naruto said.

"Okay, so what about you?" Gaara then asked now turning towards the girl. Rin looked confused at Naruto.

"What are you talking about Teinousha?" she asked the blonde boy. Naruto looked at her and then back at Gaara.

"She's also a Jinchuuriki. She's the container of hachibi" Naruto then said to Gaara explaining himself. Rin looked shocked and angry at him, how did he dare to tell her secret to somebody else. Gaara looked shocked at the girl.

"Really?" he asked them. The Kazekage stood up and rounded the desk.

"How did you find her?" Gaara asked Naruto.

"It's actually quite a long story that I maybe should tell you tomorrow instead" Naruto said to him. Rin still hadn't said anything but just looked at Naruto. Naruto looked back at her now.

"Gaara is the Ichibi" he said as an explaination to him telling Gaara about her. She looked back at the Kazekage shocked.

"Why didn't you tell me earlier that you knew another Jinchuuriki?" she asked Naruto after a while.

"You didn't tell her that?" Gaara asked the blonde boy. Naruto just shook his head.

"Thanks" was all Gaara said as a small smile entered his face. Naruto just smiled back one of his rarely seen true smiles. He knew Gaara didn't like people's first imprecssion of him to be that he was a Jinchuuriki.

"So, Kazekage-sama you're" Rin started.

"Please, Gaara" The Kazekage interupted her.

"Hai, Gaara-sama, sorry for asking but how come you're a Jinchuuriki and still yet the Kazekage?" she then asked him.

"Well..."

After their talk with Gaara Taiki showed them to their sleeping places. In difference to the hostel the night before there now where one room for the guys and one for the girls, and a bed for all of them. No sleeping on the floor here.

Rin had been expecting questions about what she and Naruto had done. What she hadn't expacted however was Sakura practically jumping her when she entered and eagerily asking her.

"Now, when the guys are not around tell me how it was!"

"How what was?" Rin asked the girl nervously.

"Kissing Shino-kun of course" Sakura said as if it had been obvious it was what she had meant.

"Ow" Rin said feeling her face heat up slightly. She found it quite suprising, ususally she never blushed or found something embarassing.

"Well, I guess it was ... good?" she said a little unsure in an almost asking tone.

"Aren't you sure how it felt?" she heard Hinata ask her from one of the beds. Some way Hinata had gained enough confidence in her surprise that she managed to ask it sounding quite confident.

"Well, of course I know how it felt. I just don't know how to explain it" Rin said sounding a little irritated, still yet she blushed a little bit more at Hinata's question.

"Hey, I was wondering. How about the bugs?" Sakura then asked her sounding curious.

"What about them?" Rin asked her a little confused.

"You didn't notice them?" Sakura then asked her.

"No, was I supposse to?" Rin asked her back still yet wondering a little bit what she meant.

"No, I was just wondering" Sakura said as she waved her hands in front of her not wanting to explain more because of fright to upset Rin about her choice of boy.

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"What were you doing?" Kiba asked as Naruto entered their room.

"I was just talking a little bit more with Gaara" he said simply as he went over to the only empty bed in the room. Happy for not having to sleep on the floor another night. It was far worse than sleeping in a tent in the forest.

"Sooo, was it the first time?" Kiba then asked him with a tone that worried Naruto to no end.

"What do you mean first time?" he asked him suspisciosly.

"With Hinata" Kiba said in the same tone. Shino's head snapped up from his bag which he stood leaned over.

"What did he do to Hinata?" Shino asked Kiba. Kiba looked a little bit at Shino and snickered. He looked back at Naruto before he explained.

"Yesterday, when I went to search for them I found them standing huddled up together their faces inches apart" he said with a huge smirk on his face. Shino's head snapped from Kiba to Naruto quickly.

"Nani? They were kissing?" he asked Kiba as he looked at Naruto.

"No, I think I interupted them before they could. Then we don't know if it was the first time it happened" Kiba said with the same huge smirk. By now Naruto blushed like crazy.

"Sooo, was it the first time or not?" Kiba then asked him once again.

Naruto mumbled something incomprehensible.

"I can't hear ya" Kiba said.

"It was the first time" Naruto said a little too loudly souding greivly irritated.

"And you interupted us you idiot" Naruto then said to Kiba. Kiba just snickered some more.

"Well, I guess I should be sorry for doing that" he then said still yet wearing the stupid smirk.

"Yeah you should" Naruto mumbled sourly as he started to unpack some of his bag. Kiba just snickered some more before he did the same.

During the forenoon the next day Taiki came and asked Naruto and Rin to come with him to the Kazekage's office. When they entered the room Gaara asked them to sit down.

"So, how did you meet Rin Naruto?" Gaara then asked when Taiki had left the room.

"Well, as you might know I have been away for almost three years on a training trip with Jiraiya" Naruto started. "Then one and a half year ago maybe Jiraiya snapped up something about a Jinchuuriki during his research. Usually he doesn't hear anything about Jinchuurikis, we aren't that usual as you know" Naruto then continuned.

"Yeah I know" Gaara put in.

"Yeah, well he also heard that this one didn't live anywhere. Who ever it was the person didn't belong anywhere. Not like we didn't belong when we were kids. She didn't belong to any village, nor any clan or anything. So we decided to seek this Junchuuriki up. It would hopefully prevent Akatsuki from getting to it. After about six months we meet Rin in a large town, which we actually originally entered to gather some more info on her. At first she didn't trust us obviously, but after like a month or something she finally agreed to come with us" Naruto then explained further.

"A month?" Gaara asked him.

"Yeah, actually she didn't trust us until she saw me lose control over Kyuubi because she wouldn't trust us" Naruto said as he scratched the back of his neck awkardly.

"You started to trust them when you saw him lose control?" Gaara asked her.

"Yeah, that was when I knew that he didn't lie when he said that he was a Jinchuuriki" she explained herself.

"Oh, well that actually makes sense" Gaara then said.

After Rin had told Gaara about her history and he had told her his Rin and Naruto went out to find their friends. Gaara on the other hand had to go back to working.

They found them in one of the restaurants after a while. They were sitting at the window as usual. They walked up to their table and sat down. Rin sat down next to Shino and Naruto took the last empty chair next to Hinata.

Rin now remembered Sakura's question about the bugs the earlier evening. She decided to tease the girl a little bit. She bent over towards Shino and put her hand at the back of his neck. She engulfed him in a deep passionate kiss. As she did so she also concentrated some chakra in to her tongue. She almost immediately felt the bugs come in to her mouth instinctively. She also felt Shino fighting for them to go back. She then stopped concentrating chakra but made shure that one of the bugs still yet stayed in her mouth. When they broke apart she could feel the other's gazes on them. That was when she released the bug, she could feel it fly away from her lips towards Shino. She looked a little bit at Sakura, she could she the shocked and almost disgusted look that the pink haired girl tried to hide. The other one's had just as must shock, but those who also looked with disgust didn't look with nearly as much as Sakura. Therefore they also did a better job hiding it.

When they had finished eating they went back to their rooms in the Hokage building. When they reached the rooms they saw Kakashi and Kurenai standing outside of them waiting for them. When they came walking down the corridor Kakashi removed himself from the wall without looking up from his Itchi Itchi book. He stopped in front of them holding up a hand as a sign for them to wait. After a while he put away the book.

"Yo" he said as he did his usual greeting.

"So, you ready to continue the mission?" Kurenai then asked them from her place at the wall.

"We can get going any minute we want to, we have already talked to the Kazekage" Kakashi then said.

"So, when are we going then?" Shino asked them.

"As soon as you have finished packing. Apperently the situation is a little worse then we thought so we can't stay here another night" Kakashi then said.

"Hai" they all said before they went in to their rooms to pack their stuff again.

**A/N: Hope you liked it! Once again so sorry for the late upload!!! Please review anyway! **

**If you think it's weird that Naruto gets so surprised about Gaara being the Kazekage, then please remember the fact that this story begins at the same time as Shippuuden, which means that he doesn't know of that when it begins. **


	12. Hamano kun

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto**

**A/N: Finally I am back at my dad's place, which means that I have the memory stick again:D I am so ridiculously happy because of that xD**

**That also means that I can continue on uploading chapters:D**

Chapter 12: Hamano-kun

They hurried out of town and towards Bird Country. It was placed with it's border to Wind Country opposite to Fire country you could say. It was a small but rich country.

They reached the border before nightfall, so next time they made camp it was in Bird Country. The second day there team 8 minus Kurenai immediately started to search for the Daiymo and his family. During this time team Kakashi and Kurenai just had to sit nicely and wait. It didn't take long before it became quite boring, especially for someone like Naruto or Rin. So they pretty soon started to train against each other despite Kakashi telling them not to, they would need their strength later on he told them. They didn't listen however. They fought almost all day except at lunch time. When the nightfall came team 8 still yet hadn't found anything so they just had to keep on looking another day. At first it looked like the second day would be the same pretty much, but just when Naruto and Rin got up to train another day Akamaru came running with Kiba on his back.

"We've found a trail" he called out to them.

"Where?" Kakashi asked him looking up from his book.

"Over there by the stream" Kiba said and pointed towards the trees behind him.

"Hai" Kakashi said and nodded.

"Naruto, send of some clones to find Hinata and Shino" he then added. Naruto nodded and put up his hands to his trademark seal.

"Kage Bunshin no jutsu" he said as two clones poofed out of thin air. They immediately took of in to the trees without a word.

It didn't take too long before Hinata and Shino arrived at the camp.

"Have you found a trail?" Shino asked.

"Hai, Kiba-kun has found one over by the stream" Kakashi said to him.

"Now, could you show us to it Kiba-kun?" Kurenai then asked the boy.

"Hai Kurenai-sensei" he said before Akamaru once again took of in to the forest. The others followed him. After a while they came to a small stream. On the other side of the stream a minor road went by.

"Here, I can feel a distinct smell of The Daiymo. And there are marks after a wagon on the road". Kakashi went over to the road and crouched down. He touched the marks after the wagon. He then looked up the way they were now going.

"Actually, Kakashi-sensei the trail leads that way" Kiba said and pointed the way Kakashi wasn't looking.

"Oh, yeah I knew that. I was just looking the way the wagon came. You know you can tell a lot about the ... ehh... kidnapers that way" he then said as a small sweat drop formed at his forehead. They all fell back anime style to this.

They were quite lucky. They only had to follow the trail until some hours after noon. They could just as well had to follow it for days.

For some reason Shino just stopped. He didn't say anything and they didn't see any signs to why.

"Oi, Shi" Naruto started to say.

"Sssh" Kiba said. Apparently he knew what was going on. Then Shino jumped in amongst the trees next to the road. The others followed him since he seemed to know what was going on. Just seconds after a girl stepped out on the road. She had long straight light brown hair down to her waist. She was wearing tight black pants and a tight black shirt with long arms. Over that she wore a green jounin vest. On her face was a blank white mask. The girl looked around. At just the blink of an eye maybe Naruto thought that she looked right at them. Not just looked their way, but at _them._ Then suddenly she jumped away with the speed of a shinobi.

"Didn't Tsunade say there weren't supposed to be any Shinobis in the league?" Sakura then asked out loud. Her brain was probably the only one to catch on to that.

"I know" Kakashi said to her. "But it looks as if she might've been wrong" he then added.

"No, not because of that girl" Kiba then said.

"What do you mean Kiba-kun?" Sakura asked him.

"That girl wasn't part of the league that kidnapped the Daiymo. I could feel that on her scent" he then explained.

"So she just happened to pass through?" Naruto then asked him stupidly.

"No, it was Santa Claus that just happened to pass through. Of course she just happened to pass through Baka" Kiba then said sounding angry. He finished his sentence of with a blow towards Naruto's head to show more how stupid Naruto was.

"Ow, you didn't have to hit me. I was just making sure. You could just as well have recognised her smell and just realized that she had been following us" Naruto said as he rubbed the back of his head, where Kiba had hit him.

"Don't you think I would've told you if I had recognised her scent?" Kiba then asked him irritated as he crossed his arms over his chest.

"Yeah, maybe. It's just that... I thought that I recognised her chakra signal" Naruto then said now sounding more serious.

"Yeah, me too" Rin then said. All of them now looked at her.

"Because of my kekkei-genkei I can subconsciously remember any chakra signal. Somewhere we probably met her during our travelling Naruto" she then continued.

"You know who it is then?" Naruto asked her.

"No, all I remember is that she's a sound-nin" she then said sounding slightly sad now. At this all of them looked shocked at her. A sound nin?

"Sound?" Kakashi said not really asking anybody.

"Sasuke" Naruto almost whispered after a while. Every syllable seemed to hurt. Rin felt as if something ripped apart inside of her every time Naruto said that name that way. She couldn't even think the name herself because of the hatred she felt towards _him. _What she couldn't get was that Naruto still yet claimed that _he_ was his best friend. She actually thought that Naruto got the whole thing with being a Jinchuuriki. That it was impossible to be closer to anybody that wasn't a jinchuuriki than to somebody who was, it didn't matter how much you wanted it. It was physically impossible, nobody understood a jinchuuriki better than another jinchuuriki. That was almost like one of the physic's rules. Still yet he thought that _he_ was more of a best friend than she was. That the backstabbing bastard was more of a friend than the other jinchuuriki that had been there for him for a year and always would. She could feel her eyes starting to fill up with tears. She did however not let them. She couldn't let anybody see her crying just because they came across a sound-nin now could she.

"We have to continue now don't we?" she then said getting everybody out of their shock.

"Hai" Kakashi said as he slightly shook his head. Then they took of once again after Shino and Kiba.

Naruto still couldn't lose the thought of the sound-nin being there. What if Sasuke also was there? Sure, Tsunade had said that there weren't suppose to be any shinobis, but couldn't she be wrong about that? Couldn't it be led by Orochimaru? What if

That was when he got interrupted in his wishful thoughts - about being able to rescue his friend - by an unfriendly root that jumped up and made him trip.

The other ones stopped and looked at him.

"Stop thinking about it, it was just a coincidence" Kakashi said to him.

"But what if" Naruto started.

"I said it was just a coincidence. Now concentrate on your mission instead" Kakashi broke Naruto off in an almost angry tone.

"Hai Kaka-sensei" Naruto said looking down at the ground.

After not too long Kiba and Akamaru stopped and looked in to the trees.

"The trail continue in there" he said and pointed where he was looking.

"Does it feel stronger, like we were getting close?" Kakashi then asked him.

"Hai, it feels as if they are close. Like we are close to the base" Kiba then said.

"Good" was Kakashi's only reply before they took of in to the forest.

They stopped after a while as they reached the league of criminals' camp. They stood so that they could see it but still yet couldn't be seen.

"Can you localise the Daiymo Hinata-san?" Kurenai asked the girl.

"Hai Kurenai-sensei" Hinata said as she activated her Byakugan and looked for the man.

She found him and his family in the biggest tent.

"He's there in that tent. And his family are there too" she said as she pointed at the tent.

"Hai, how many enemies are there?" Kakashi then asked her.

"Around 30 I think, there are a lot of them but they don't look _that_ strong" she then said.

"Does it look like there's any shinobis in there?" Kurenai then asked her.

"No, it doesn't look like that"

"That's good" Kurenai replied.

"Now, we gotta have a plan on who goes to get them" Kakashi said. Then they started to plan their rescue of the Daiymo and his family.

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Some way from there two guys were sitting around a fire. One of them had red hair in a pony tail fastened high on his head. His eyes were as green as the surrounding forest. Placed on his nose was a pair of round glasses. The other guy had short black hair licked to the right side of his face. His eyes were almost as dark as the hair. They were both wearing a black outfit and a green jounin vest. On their forehead protectors was the mark of the sound village.

A girl with the same black outfit only tighter came walking in to the clearing where they were sitting. She had long light brown hair down to her waist and her face was covered by a blank white mask.

"I think we might have trouble" she said as she walked up to the fire.

"Ah, Amane-chan I've missed you" the guy with black hair said to her sounding happy. Despite her mask you could easily see Amane's irritation.

"DON'T CALL ME CHAN LIKE THAT HARA!" she suddenly exploded in to his face.

"What do you mean trouble Amane-san?" the other guy said calmly not looking up from the fire.

"I saw some Konoha-nins, they're probably here to rescue the Daiymo" she said sounding more serious now.

"Oh, how many were they then?" he asked her.

"Eight and a nin-dog"

"NANI?" Hara almost screamed out. "Eight and a nin-dog?" he then asked surprised and sounding slightly frightened.

"Are you sure Amane-san, to send that many just to save the Daiymo sound weird" the red head then said.

"Hai Sakamoto-san I'm sure. That could always just mean that they're out of shinobis and had to send genins or something" Amane then said.

"Hmm, we could always hope. Then of course if it's genins two of them should be jounins" Sakamoto then said.

"One thing did though not feel so good. One of them had grey hair and a mask hiding all off his face except his right eye" she then said as she sat down. For the first time Sakamoto looked up at her.

"You mean, you think it was Hatake Kakashi the copy ninja?" he asked her.

"Hai, I think so" she said as she looked in to the fire.

"We're screwed" Hara then said despondently.

"Urusai" Amane said as she hit him across the back of his head.

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"Okay, so me and Kurenai sneak in and get the Daiymo and his family first. Then when we are sure of their safety we all attack them and try to only capture them. We don't want any unnecessary deaths" Kakashi said as they stood there.

"Hai" all of them said as they nodded. Then Kakashi and Kurenai started to sneak away towards the biggest tent.

-------------------------------------------

At the same time as they were planning on entering the camp in the shadows the three sound-nins entered it in the light. The criminals looked suspiciously at them but didn't dare to do anything. They weren't stupid, they could easily see that those were Shinobis on their outfits and headbands. They also knew that the real reason for kidnapping the Daiymo and his entire family had something to do with some Shinobis. They did however of course not know exactly what the real reason what. They only knew that they would make money both on that and hopefully on some ransom also.

The three sound ninjas went to the big tent where the Daiymo where suppose to be. In the shadows of it Kakashi and Kurenai were hiding.

The Daiymo and his family were sitting bound up at the right corner on the side furthest away from the opening. Closer to the opening was a small table. At the table three men were sitting. They looked up at the shinobis entering the tent.

"Are you the ones who are here for the kid?" the man at the short end of the table asked them as he stood up.

"If by the 'kid' you mean the Daiymo's adopted son, then yes" Sakamoto said.

"Good, how to do with the payment then?" he then asked them.

"Well, we have to be sure it's really him. So you get the money after we know that" Sakamoto replied to this.

"What are you going to do to my son?" The Daiymo then screamed at them from the corner. They looked at him. Amane walked up to him and bent down so that their eyes were in level.

"He's your _adopted _son. And what will happen to him I don't know. And if I would I still yet wouldn't tell you what would happen to him" she said. Then she stood up again and walked over to the rest of her team.

"His is still yet my son!" the Daiymo said angrily. "You have no right to say something like that. I DEMAND YOUR APOLOGY!" The Daiymo said not thinking about his situation. Used as he was to people doing as he said. In the blink of an eye she was once again at his side now holding a kunai to his neck. You could hear his wife scream from her place out of fear. The Daiymo looked frightened at Amane.

"I think you have forgotten what position you are in now Daiymo-chan" Amane started.

"You're not one to make any demands here now are you. I on the other hand am. So _I _demand _your _apology" she then said. "Or I'll just cut your pretty little neck" she then added pressing the kunai slightly harder at his skin. Few drops of blood poured down it.

"Hey, you can't do that then there's no ransom money in him" the criminals' leader said as he started to walk at her. Sakamoto raised his arm in front of him.

"Oh, she _can _do that" he said.

Amane hadn't even looked back at them.

"Now give me your apology!" she said to the frightened Daiymo. She pressed slightly harder. Now his wife noticed the small amount of blood on her husband's neck and started to scream again.

"Urusai" Amane hissed at her. The woman looked scared at her. Quiet and scared. Amane looked back at the Daiymo. Since he didn't seem on planning to speak at all because he was so frightened she raised her arm readying herself to chop his head of.

"G-g-gomenasai" the Daiymo said trembling. Amane lowered her arm slowly. She then bend over and put her hand behind her ear.

"I can't hear you Daiymo-chan" she said messing with the man in front of her.

"Gomenasai" he said once again now without stuttering.

"I'm sorry Daiymo-chan I'm a really bad hearer. Can you please say it louder" she then said. You could easily hear her smug smile in her voice. She just loved that feeling of total control.

"GOMENASAI" the Daiymo now screamed out of fear. Amane smiled behind her mask.

"What a good boy you are Daiymo-chan" she then said as she once again stood up and started to walk over to her team once more. She could see Sakamoto's small smirk. She smirked back even though she knew that he couldn't see it.

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Because of the new problem in their mission Kakashi and Kurenai went back to the rest of the team to ask Hinata for help. They really needed to know what was going on in there.

"I think they are going out of the tent now with what looks like the leader" Hinata said.

"Hai, then we will take this opportunity to rescue them" Kakashi said as he started to stand up so they could be sure to get every moment they could.

"No, wait. The girl with the mask are walking up to the Daiymo. I think he said something" Hinata then said interrupting Kakashi and Kurenai in there steps away.

"She walks away again. Oh, no don't say that" Hinata then says. Right after that they heard a woman scream from within the tent.

"What is it Hinata-chan?" Naruto, the most curious one asked her.

"The Daiymo, he told her to apologize. God she's angry now. She is pressing a kunai at his neck. I can't tell what she is saying because of the mask. But he looks terrified" Hinata then continued explaining.

"I think she is making him apologize" she then said sounding a bit unsure. After a while they heard another scream from the woman.

"Hai, she is making him apologize" Hinata said sounding slightly shocked and startled at what she saw. She was right, just seconds later maybe they could hear a man scream Gomenasai from within the tent.

"They're walking away now" she then said. Soon after the three ninjas that had entered came out of the tent with another man.

"This is our cue I guess" Kakashi said.

"Hai, there are two other men in the tent guarding them" Hinata then said to them before they took of.

"Hai" Kurenai said as she took of after Kakashi.

----------------------------------------------------

Hara followed the man together with his team mates across the camp to a small tent. It sat one man outside it guarding whatever was in it. They walked by him without a word. In the tent was only one little boy with black hair. His eyes had a slightly scary white colour with no visible pupils. He looked frightened at them.

"Hara, your turn now" Sakamoto said to him.

"Hai" Hara said with a smile walking up to the boy.

"Hello" he said softly crouching down in front of the boy. The boy trembled and looked scared at Hara.

"So, so don't be afraid, I won't hurt you" Hara said with a soft and soothing voice.

"Hey, what's your name?" he then asked the boy.

"H-h-hamano" the boy said trembling.

"Hamano? Eh, what a nice name" Hara said in the same voice. Hara now positioned himself sitting on the floor in front of the boy. He then turned around and looked at Sakamoto. The red headed man nodded at him and walked out of the tent again. Amane followed him without a word. The other man looked after them a little confused before Amane motioned him to follow them without turning towards him. Now Hara and Hamano were alone in the tent.

"So, Hamano-kun. I'm Domori Hara. But you can call me Hara, okay?" Hara then said turning towards the boy again.

"H-h-hai" the boy said still trembling.

"Hamano-kun, you don't have to be afraid of me. I promise you I won't hurt you" Hara then said sounding as reassuring as he could.

"So, wanna tell me something about yourself?" he then asked the boy starting to break down Hamano's protection and get to know him. They had found out it was the easiest way to make a child cooperate, and since Hara was like a child in his mind he had a natural way of making kids trust him.

-----------------------------------------

Kakashi and Kurenai had by now entered the tent and was in the process of knocking the men in it out as quietly as possible. It went easy since it was only two and Kurenai after all was a genjutsu expert. She easily put a genjutsu over them making them fall asleep. Since they weren't trained shinobi they didn't even notice the genjutsu, yet alone disable it. They then entered the tent and tied them to the chairs they were sitting in.

"Who are you?" the Daiymo asked them scared.

"We are Konoha-nins here to save you" Kurenai said reassuringly to the man as she untied his ropes.

"Our son, Hamano. His in another tent" the woman then said.

"What? You have another son that's not here with you?" Kakashi asked her.

"Hai, Hamano-kun. He's our adopted son" she answered.

"Where is he then?" Kakashi asked her.

"I don't know. I don't know" the woman said as she started to cry.

"So, take it easy now. We will surely find him. We just have to get you out of here first" Kurenai tried to calm down the woman. Before they continued on to get them out of the tent.

---------------------------------------------

Hinata had jumped with her gaze between Kakashi and Kurenai and the three from the sound. When she was sure Kakashi and Kurenai would make it she only looked at the three sound shinobis. They had gone to a small tent with only a boy inside. Now only the guy with black hair and the boy was in the tent. The others stood outside it, probably waiting.

"It looks as if he is trying to make the boy trust him" she told the other ones.

"We really should go there and save him" Naruto said.

"Not while they are still there with him" Shino said with an ordering tone.

"Actually, Shino-kun I doubt that they will walk away from him. He is after all for some reason in another tent" Sakura then said. Just as Shino was about to answer they could hear a sudden gasp from Hinata.

"He's a Hyuuga"

**A/N: Oooh A Hyuuga :P**

**So what do you think of my three new ninja O****Cs???? **

**Personally I like Amane.. The funny thing about that is the fact that Amane is the Japanese "version" of Amanda… Which is my name xD**

**When I told my friend this her reply was "Well I guess there is an Amane inside of you that wants to get out xD"…. (the xD is suppose to be within the "".. She has that expression very often) **


	13. Relatives and memories

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto**

**A/N: So the 13****th**** chapter here.. Well to be honest I'm not very pleased with the name of the chapter but whatever :P**

**Thanks for all the reviews, faves and alerts:D**

Chapter 13: Relatives and memories

Amane was standing outside the tent and was feeling happy. Happy that it was Hara and not her inside that tent. Happy that they had discovered Hara's natural way with children. The first time she had to do it since she was a woman. It hadn't worked so well, she just hated children. She didn't know what to say to calm them down and they had only been scared by her mask. Sakamoto had even gone as far as to suggest she took of the mask. Like she actually would do that. Now on the other hand she didn't have to take the crying children, because Hara dealt with them.

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Hara could slowly feel the boy relaxing. It always happened that way. He really loved it, it gave him the feeling of doing something good for the team. It often felt as if they didn't want him there, especially Amane. Only at these times was he sure to feel needed. It happened a lot now a days also. Their village leader did for some reason often want some special kid. Some even started to talk about him being some pedofile. Hara was however smart enough not to, nobody really knew what happened to those who did that. They always disappered. Because of his want for some children the teams often got missions involving kidnapping or getting those kids. Then when they had discovered Hara's ways with children their team practically only got those. To Amane's dismay. She didn't like kids, but she loved fighting. She was to tell the truth very non feminine according to Hara.

It didn't take long before he felt the boy completely relaxed. It had gone really fast with this one. Probably because he was the Daiymo's son and used to people being nice to him. He did however wait with his last question a little bit longer. Just because Hamano was relaxed didn't mean that he trusted Hara, and to persume that he trusted him too early only meant that he had to start over.

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"What do you mean he's a Hyuuga?" Naruto asked Hinata.

"The kid in the tent. He got Byakugan. I didn't notice it at first" Hinata said. Her eyes wide open in shock. She hadn't expected to see a Hyuuga there of all places. The weird thing was the lack of caged bird mark on his forehead. He could impossibly belong to the main house, therefore he should have one of those.

"Are you sure he's a Hyuuga?" Shino asked her.

"Hai, there's no mistaking on those eyes. One thing that bugs me however is the lack of caged bird mark. He doesn't belong to the main house, and still yet he doesn't have one" she replied.

"Caged bird mark?" Rin asked her. Since she didn't come from Konoha she hadn't heard of it before.

"As you might know the Hyuuga clan is divided in the main and branch house. Those in the branch house get a seal on there foreheads that can be controlled by those of the main house with a special hand sign. Then when they die it also seals the Byakugan. It's our way of keeping the Byakugan a secret" Hinata explained to her.

"Harsh way" Rin said in a matter of fact tone. Hinata looked at her slightly surprised at the girl's almost curage. Not many people dared to say they didn't like the Hyuuga's way of doing things.

"Who cares that he's a Hyuuga right now? We have to save him" Naruto then said as he started to get up to go and save the kid. He was however stopped by Shino's hand grabbing his clothes.

"It's a good thing to know that he's a Hyuuga since that might give us a reason why he is alone in that tent. And don't try to rush away, we need a plan to be able to save him" Shino said sounding irritated at Naruto's stupidness.

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Why wouldn't she stop crying? Kakashi started to get really annoyed at her. Sure he could understand that she was sad about her child. That did however not mean that she could cry how much she wanted right now. It only made it so much harder to place them in safety without getting noticed by anybody.

"Please it'll be alright just stop crying. They can hear you" Kurenai said to the woman in a soothing voice. Kakashi could hear the irritation hidden beneath her tone.

"But, Hamano-kun. What if he is hurt?" The woman said.

"We'll save him as soon as you are in safety. We can't do anything before that" Kurenai then continued explaining. The words didn't help one bit, the woman just continued crying without even trying to stop. It really was hard trying to help an entire family through the forest to a safe place without being detected when one of the children wasn't with them.

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"So, it's decided. Since we don't think that they will leave him alone we'll rescue him as we try to capture the criminals. To not get him in the crossfire Akamaru will get him to safety as we fight so that everyone can focus on the criminals" Shino then said explaining it way too much.

"You know Shino-kun you don't have to explain it _that _much, We already know the plan" Kiba said in an irritated tone.

"I know that. I was just thinking about the readers" Shino then said. Everybody froze and looked at him.

"What do you mean the readers?" they all asked in unison.

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Hara decided that it was time to ask the ultimate question that decided if the kid would follow them freely or not. It was just so much easier to bring the kid back to the village if he just said yes to this question.

"So, Hamano-kun. You want to get out of this scary place and go with me and my friends?" Hara asked the boy, careful with the way he spoke. The boy looked at him not knowing what to answer. He didn't like it here, but he was afraid that he wouldn't meet his parents again if he went with Hara-san. Then of course he felt that he trusted Hara-san much more than the men that kept him here.

"Hai" the boy said after a while as he nodded.

"Good" Hara said as he got up and started to untie the boy's ropes. After he had done so he stood up in front of the sitting boy and reached him his hand to help him up. They then walk out of the tent together Hara holding Hamano's hand.

"Are we ready to go?" Sakamoto asked Hara as he came out of the tent.

"Hai" Hara said to him.

"Good" was all Sakamoto said as he started to walk away to the opening off the camp. Amane and Hara followed with Hamano still holding on to Hara's hand looking everywhere with big scared eyes.

Before they had gotten very far a kunai came rushing past them almost hitting Sakamoto. If it hadn't been for his fast reaction. They all turned around towards where it came. Hara placing Hamano behind him. He didn't want the little boy harmed now would he, that would mean they had failed the mission. It didn't do much to put him away from the direction from where the kunai came however. Soon six shinobis wearing a forehead protector with the mark on Konoha on it jumped forth. It looked as if they had surrounded them efficiently.

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"Hand over the child" Shino said calmly to them. Hamano tried to hide more behind Hara at this. He didn't want to be taken from the only person around here that he trusted.

"Oh, you can forget that" Hara said to him. That was when Amane started to charge at Shino out of the blue. She did however not get that far. Sakamoto stopped her first. With something that looked like a long blue string.

"Nii-san" could be heard. Everybody looked towards the sound and saw a shocked Rin standing there. Sakamoto looked at the girl with shocked eyes.

"Rin?" he asked her. She merely nodded at her apparently older brother.

"H-he's your brother?" Naruto asked her.

"So what are you doing here? Wearing a Konoha head band and all" Sakamoto then asked Rin taking no notice to Naruto.

"I'm now a Konoha shinobi" Rin then said with more confidence and more anger in her voice.

"Oh, really. So they accepted you didn't they. Despite of what you are. Or maybe they don't know" he then asked her with a taunting voice. Rin lost her anger and once again looked shocked at her brother. Naruto on the other hand didn't.

"URUSAI NO BAKA" Naruto suddenly screamed as he started to charge the man. Rin did however stop him the same way that Sakamoto had stopped Amane.

"Don't Naruto-kun" she said to him. Naruto looked slightly shocked at her, why hadn't she called him Teinousha like she always did. She looked almost sad at her blonde friend. Then she looked back at her brother and looked angrier again.

"He's mine to kill" she then said sounding angrier than before.

"Oh, you think you can kill me?" Sakamoto asked her in the same taunting voice. "Then why don't you try?" he then added before he hit at her with a new chakra whip. It was almost to fast for them to see despite them being Shinobi. Fortunate Rin was just as fast with drawing up her knife and forming it in to a chakra sword.

"I'm impressed, it takes a whole lot to form a weapon out of chakra that way. Especially managing doing it that fast" Sakamoto said to her as she stood there with his whip around her sword. That was when he started to feel something almost tugging away his whip from him. It was Rin that was using their chakra connection to drag away his whip from him. Since he wasn't prepared for it to happen he lost the whip to her. He looked at her slightly more impressed.

"So you have even gotten that far. It's not many of us that can take another's chakra" he then said as he stood there now without a whip.

"But you are still yet not strong enough to beat your older brother" he then added with a smirk as he bent down to take up a small stick. Then he held it up for her to see as a whole knife with a handle and everything just from fastening the chakra on a small stick. Rin looked shocked at him. Then he charged her and they started to fight each other with their newly made chakra swords.

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The other ones at up until now only stood there watching the exchange between Rin and Sakamoto. That was when Amane had had enough of just standing there and randomly started to charge at somebody. Apparently that person was Hyuuga Hinata. Naruto felt how he instinctively started to move towards Hinata. He didn't reach her before Amane however. The masked girl reached her long before he could. He had however feared for Hinata's safety for nothing. The Hyuuga heiress could protect herself. She quickly jumped up and over Amane just as fast as the other girl had charged her. Hinata then tried to strike one of Amane's tenketsus in her neck. Amane was however once again just as fast as Hinata. She jumped away from her and turned around in the jump. Hinata followed her just as fast once again. She started to throw Jyuuken punches at her in a rapid pace. Amane barely managed to dodge all of them as she tried to back away from the indigo haired girl more and more without success. As Amane felt Hinata's pace increase after a while it started to get harder to parry all of her attacks. Pretty soon Hinata managed to hit her in the side with a Jyuuken-fist. Amane felt how she stumbled to the ground holding her side. She looked up at the girl. How was that possible? She hadn't even been hit directly. The girl had only nudged her in the side. Then she saw Hinata's eyes and she understood. She managed to stand up and get in to her fighting stance once more.

Hinata charged at her once again. Before she reached her however Amane did some really fast hand signs. The weird thing was the lack of result. Nothing happened it seemed. Until she felt herself being engulfed by darkness. Suddenly she was a small girl once again standing beside her mother's bed. She knew that the woman there was dead. That it had already happened in the past, that she more or less didn't grief her mother anymore. Still yet she felt the pain take over her and fell to the floor crying. She heard her father's angry voice telling her to get up, but she just couldn't.

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About the same time that Amane had charged Hinata all the criminals had woken up. Kiba and Akamaru started to fight Hara since it was more or less their job to get the little boy. The rest of them rapidly started to knock out the criminals. Naruto however always kept one eye on Hinata and Amane hopefully able to step in if needed.

Kiba tried to get Hara to get away from Hamano so that Akamaru could get the boy. He didn't succeed however. Hara efficiently kept the boy away from them. He wasn't so dumb that he thought he could make Hara step away from the boy. Instead he tried to hit him away from the boy, but because of that he didn't want to harm the boy he couldn't attack him with any power. Therefore Hara easily parried and dodged the attacks despite the fact that he had to protect Hamano also.

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Kakashi almost felt as if something had been lifted of off his shoulders when they could leave the woman in a safe place. He couldn't take any more of her crying.

When he and Kurenai reached the camp it was in a chaos. People everywhere, both conscious and unconscious. They easily understood that for some reason their team mates had decided to start earlier than planned. So they started to knock out non unconscious criminals in an even faster pace than the others.

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Naruto saw Hinata suddenly stopping in her charge towards the other girl. He saw the extreme sadness in her eyes and how she fell to the ground crying uncontrollably. He started to run towards her but was stopped because of the number of opponents. As he tried to make his way through the sea of them he cried out to her.

"Hinata-chan" He punched somebody in the face and felt the person fall to the ground. He made some more shadow clones since he felt their numbers starting to fall. It decreased the number of criminals around him, but they were still yet too many for him to get to Hinata.

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Hinata felt herself having to relive all of the worst moments in her life. Times when people had died and times when she had disappointed persons. She felt an extreme grief engulf her just as the darkness that became in between every memory.

'_This can't be happening, I was in the fight against that girl. I am 15 and all of these things have already happened. Actually this __can't__ be happening' _she suddenly realised. She suddenly remembered every time she had been training against Kurenai-sensei. Wasn't this exactly how all of her genjutsus felt? Actually it was. With that realisation she stood up once again. She raised her hands to the sign you used to concentrate chakra. She stopped the chakra flow only to then let it increase. Because of this interruption of her chakra flow the genjutsus disappeared. The darkness that had surrounded her drew back and she was standing facing Amane once again. The other girl was about now standing really close to Hinata because of the time she had been fallen to the ground. She barely was able to dodge Amane's attack by jumping away from the girl. The next attack Amane made towards her she parried. She then hit her towards her face with a Jyuuken fist and it connected with Amane's mask. A big crack went through the mask dividing it into two halves.

**A/N: Another Cliffhangerish thing… (Finally I get to use the ending –ish in a word:D I just love the thing –ish… our word for that ain't nearly as good in the Swedish language!!!)**

**Hope you liked this chapter as well! Please Review!!!!!! **


	14. Feeling worthless and Hamano's history

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.**

**A/N: I was planning on uploading sooner, actually Wednesday. But, when I was sitting there happily in school with my dear computer and went to I found out something horrible. The municipality together with the school had blocked because they thought that it contained inappropriate things… I grew horrified clearly! I mean, suddenly I would only be able to upload every second week end. Suddenly I would have to say on internet that I lived in the middle middle of Australia under ground where it's not as hot, all this just to not get killed or hurt by some angry reader… Very exaggerated I know, very very very exaggerated. But it was extremely fun to discuss it with my friend. That I can promise you! Well well, Do not fear! We noticed earlier today that they have unblocked the site:D I can upload more often than every second weekend..**

**Well, I don't know if that really is all that interesting, so I guess I should just go on with the next chapter. It's a long one! SO BE HAPPY!!!**

Chapter 14: Feeling worthless and Hamano's history

Rin felt Sakamoto growing the upper hand with every blow. He was really good when it came to their kekkei-genkei. He was after all older then her and had stayed longer with the clan to get trained. He didn't even run away from it. The Kizume clan didn't belong to any village. Still yet all of them wanted to do so. So they made sure that whenever a village needed more shinobis they could contact their clan to be provided with shinobis. Sakamoto was one of those that had volunteered to be sent to the hidden village of sound. Rin had never liked her older brother. He had often been the one watching over her making sure she didn't lose control over the hachibi another time. He hadn't liked having to baby-sit her. That disliking had gone out over his way towards her. She had thought that she wouldn't have to stand his taunting when she left. Now here she was being taunted by him once more.

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Kiba was starting to panic slightly, the plan had after all been to get the kid early so he wouldn't be caught up in the crossfire. Still yet here he was unable to get to the boy fighting with somebody that was practically carrying the child. How much more caught up in the crossfire could you get without fighting.

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Amane could feel the impact of the younger girls blow to her face. She could hear the sound of her mask breaking in to two halves. That horrible sound, she would probably always remember it. She had that mask for a reason. Not even Sakamoto and Hara knew how she looked beneath it. Why she had it. What she was hiding with it. Even though it only took seconds it felt like an eternity for her. For the mask to brake and slid of off her face. The sudden coolness of air and wind on her face. The sudden feeling of being naked. As if her every secret and thought was put out in a display. The feeling of her childhood came back. The feeling of being laughed at because of the ugly mark that her father had left on her. The feeling of being worthless she had when he left the mark. Then finally the last feeling she got: the feeling of not being in control. The feeling of being controlled since everybody could see her true emotions written across her face. She felt herself getting angry at the girl in front of her. How did that girl dare to reveal her to the rest of the world?

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Hinata saw the other girl's shock and fear easily now when she could she her face. It was a beautiful one. She had blue almost purple eyes and clean facial features with high cheek bones and a small mouth with full lips. This was however not what Hinata noticed. What her gaze was drawn towards was the long ugly scar plastered across the other girl's face. It stretched across her nose between her cat eyes all the way from the top of her forehead to her jaw.

Suddenly the fear changed in to anger. The girl charged at Hinata once again. Only this time it wasn't calculated. She only seemed to be running on anger. Therefore Hinata could dodge and parry her attacks without any effort. After just a while she could get in another hit herself at the girl. She once again stumbled to the ground. This time in more pain than the last one since this hit her more directly. She decided that it was time to try to end it. It wouldn't take too much now when the other girl was in that state.

She crouched down in to a fighting stance that many people whom had seen it feared.

"Hakke Hyakunijuuhachishou" (Eight Divination Signs, 128 Strikes)

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Sakamoto decided that his younger sister wasn't worth more of his time. Therefore he stepped up his pace in the strikes. He felt Rin having to only parry all of his strikes. Soon she had it quite hard doing so. It didn't take long before he saw several openings. He did however not take any of them at first. This only to show her how much stronger he was than her. He knew that she knew that he didn't take them. He knew she had noticed every single opening he hadn't taken. Because of this she grew irritated and provided him with even more openings. Soon he felt that it had been enough. He didn't find it as amusing to taunt her that way. So he took one of the openings showing her that he had had enough of this.

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Shino saw Rin and her brother's fight. He saw that Rin was slowly losing towards him. He really felt like stepping in to help her. He wasn't able however. He was occupied with a bunch of criminals that he knocked out one after one. Even if he had been able to he probably wouldn't have until he had to anyway. Even if he hadn't known Rin for that long he knew that she had a lot of pride. She would take it offensive if he had helped her. That was when he saw the other man increasing the rate of his blows. He saw the amount of openings that suddenly came and increased in a steady pace. Suddenly he _had _to help her. He sent out a whole bunch of bugs towards the red headed man's sword. Fortunate for him Sakamoto hadn't trained with the kikaichus like Rin had. Therefore he wasn't able to evade them and soon his sword had been eaten by them and once again he stood with only a stick in his hands. It was however not before he managed to get a blow at Rin's side. She got a pretty big wound. Probably not life threatening, but not pretty. She fell to the ground holding her side. Her eyes were open wide in shock and fear. Shino managed to knock out the opponents around him quickly and ran to her side.

"Rin are you okay?" he asked her as he got to her. He looked up at Sakamoto with an angry glare hidden by his glasses.

Before anyone of them could say anything they were however interrupted by a scream.

"TWO STRIKES" Hinata could be heard screaming. They looked over at the noise and saw Hinata striking Amane twice.

"FOUR STRIKES"

"EIGHT STRIKES"

"SIXTEEN STRIKES"

"THIRTY TWO STRIKES"

"SIXTY FOUR STRIKES"

"ONE HUNDRED TWENTY EIGHT STRIKES"

Amane looked as if she was standing up in the air despite her being unconscious. She was being held upright only by the extreme speed of Hinata's strikes. After all of her tenketsus had been closed up she fell limp and unconscious to the ground. _'Shit this in not good' _Sakamoto thought. Opposite to Amane Hinata fell to her knees out of the chakra-loss. Naruto was quickly by her side now when most of the criminals had been knocked out. Just as quickly Sakamoto was there picking Amane up, throwing her over his shoulder.

"Hara we gotta go _now_" he called out to his black haired friend before he jumped away in to the forest. Hara looked at him without thinking. Kiba took this opportunity and made sure to hit him hard enough to knock him out with only one punch. He then quickly grabbed the kid and put him on Akamaru's back who jumped away from Hara. He did however not jump away to the decided safe place yet. There was after all no fight there anymore. All the criminals had been knocked out. The three sound shinobis weren't any threat at the moment. Kiba felt as if he almost had failed. His role had been to make sure that the kid would get out of the crossfire. Still yet he hadn't been able to until there weren't any crossfire to keep him from anymore. He looked around the camp. There laid unconscious people everywhere. A few of them were probably also dead, that was inevitable. Hinata was sitting on the ground with Naruto standing at her side. She had efficiently beaten her opponent. Naruto had also done a really good job when it came to that. Kakashi and Kurenai came walking from another part of the camp, they certainly had done a good job. Rin was laying on the ground with a bleeding wound in her side. Sakura was crouching down next to her healing the wound. Shino was crouching down next to her face talking with his girlfriend. Well Sakura had done a good job just as Naruto, and now she was doing more of a good job with healing Rin. Shino obviously had done a good job since he had effortlessly beaten his opponents _and_ helped Rin. The only one except him that had failed her part was probably Rin. He looked at her laying there. The look on her face looked just as he felt. Worthless.

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Rin felt her wound healing under Sakura's hands. She heard Shino's comforting words. Both things for healing different parts of her. Sakura was healing her body and Shino was healing her pride. The only one succeeding was Sakura. She could only hear that Shino was talking, but not what he was saying. It didn't matter anyway. She barely could see anything because of the humiliation. She just re-lived the fight over and over again. The way he had been taunting her. Showing her that when he finally beat her it was because he was growing bored with her. She had become a burden he wanted to get rid of. Just like when she had been younger. He had made sure that she knew she was a burden then too. Never by telling her, that wouldn't bee smart. Somebody could listen after all. Because of that he had become an expert in making her feel like a burden without saying she was one. He was much of the reason she left her clan.

She felt how Sakura removed her hands and stood up. She said something to Shino but just as with his words Rin couldn't hear what they were. Then without any warning she felt how her eyes started to fill up with tears. This time she let them fall. Even if she had wanted to she wouldn't have been able to fight them. She felt how Shino pulled her up to a sitting position and embraced her. She threw her arms around him. She tried to desperately cling to his shirt. Then she cried her heart out against his shoulder. All her sadness from how her brother had treated her when she was a little girl came up. All the hurtful memories. Especially the first ones when she didn't know why he treated her like that. When she still liked him and wanted him to like her.

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Sakura stood there next to them and watched Rin cry out on Shino's shoulder. It looked so wrong that the confident Rin that let nothing come to her cry like that. In that desperate way. She looked over at her boyfriend. He was standing looking at them. His face showed the same emotions that Rin's face carried before she started to cry. The feeling of being worthless.

Sakura walked over to him and put a hand on his back. He shrugged it of.

"Don't" was all he said as he turned away from her.

"Don't what?" she asked him in a hurt tone.

"Don't pity me" he replied looking back slightly. Then he turned around once more now looking towards Akamaru. He called out to him.

"Akamaru" The dog immediately came to his master's side. The little Hyuuga boy sat there frightened on the big dog's back. When Hamano saw Hara laying there unconscious on the ground he quickly jumped of off Akamaru and ran to him.

"Hara-san" he said as he stumbled down to a sit next to Hara's head. He shook the young man trying to wake him up. He felt a gentle hand on his shoulder and looked up to see a girl with eyes like his own. She smiled at him.

"Hi Hamano-san" she said as she crouched down next to him. She had seen Hara say the boy's name in the tent. Hamano looked scared at her. The little boy felt his eyes fill up with tears out of fear.

"So so, it's alright we are here to save you and your family" the older girl said to him.

"Your family are in a safe place a little bit away, let me take you there" she then said reaching him her hand. He looked at it frightened. He really wanted to see his family, and it was something about the girl that made him wanting to trust her. Still yet he was afraid to leave Hara-san's side.

"W-w-what about Hara-san?" he then asked after a while. Hinata looked at the unconscious man. Then she turned around to look at her sensei. Kurenai walked up to them crouching down on the other side of Hamano.

"Hara-san will come with us. Our village need to ask him some questions" Kurenai then said in a soothing voice to the boy. Because of this reassurance that Hara-san also would come he reached out to take Hinata's hand. She smiled gently at him as she stood up.

She started to walk towards the forest holding his hand. Shino followed her carrying Rin in his arms. The rest of them stayed to take care of the unconscious criminals. When they reached the edge of the forest she stopped and looked down at Hamano.

"Hamano-kun it would be much easier through here if I carried you" she said to him in her soft voice. He looked her and nodded. He then let go of her hand as she picked him up on her back. The four of them then continued through the forest jumping from branch to branch.

Soon they reached a small clearing. In the clearing four people were sitting. Hamano immediately recognised them. As soon as Hinata had put him down on the ground he ran toward the woman.

"Kaa-san" he screamed to her as she embraced him tightly.

"Hamano-kun" she said as she started to sway from one side to the other almost as if she was rocking him in her arms. The rest of his family joined them happy to bee reunited and safe once again. The Daiymo looked up at Hinata.

"Thank you so much" he said to her.

"That's alright we're happy to help" she said to him. With a smile to her he once again returned his attention to his family.

Hinata looked over at Shino and Rin. The red headed girl looked exhausted from crying so much. Shino had positioned him self sitting on the ground cradling her in his arms. Hinata walked over to them

"Is she feeling any better" she asked her team mate. He looked up at her behind his glasses.

"I don't know" he said to her sounding slightly desperate. That was not good. Shino never let any emotions show in his voice at all. She sighed and looked in to the forest to where they came from. She hoped that the others felt better.

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The criminals were quickly tied up and put at one place thanks to Naruto's kage bunshin no jutsu. As soon as Naruto was sure they couldn't escape he went over to the others. They were standing over the unconscious Hara. Kiba was still looking down and wouldn't let Sakura try to comfort him. Sakura was over and over again trying to comfort him, trying to do it as subtle as possible. Kakashi and Kurenai were standing talking over the situation.

"I'm all done" Naruto said as he walked up to them.

"Good, we are going to have to wait here until Bird country comes and picks them up. I have already sent Pakkun with a scroll to them" Kakashi said to him.

"Hai, should somebody go and get the others?" Naruto then asked him.

"Hai, you go and do that" Kakashi said. "And Kiba-kun could you please go too? I think that Akamaru maybe could be of help when it comes to the children" Kakashi then added looking at the brown haired boy. Kiba looked at him and nodded.

"You too Sakura, in case somebody needs medical attention" Kakashi then said to the pink haired girl.

"Hai Kaka-sensei" she said with a nod before the three of them took of.

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When they reached the others Sakura and Kiba went over to the happy family. Sakura asked them if they were hurt. Kiba still wasn't feeling very happy so he mostly just stood there. Naruto went over to his friends. He saw Rin laying there in Shino's arms. She looked so miserable that it hurt. He crouched down next to her and slapped her across he face with his opened hand. Hinata and Shino looked shocked at him.

"Hey, what are you doing baka?" Shino asked him sounding really angry. Naruto just ignored him. Rin blinked a little bit at the slap. Then she looked up at Naruto and started to frown.

"How come Kizume Rin the stoic non-crying girl became _this _miserable because of _that_?" he then asked her. She just looked away from his eyes frowning even more now.

"You lost, so what? We all lose sometimes. Some of them hurt more than others. But that doesn't mean we should break down every time we lose" he then said to her. His voice slightly softer at this.

"You know Rin, you really should start learning how to take a loss" Naruto then said sounding slightly amused as he shook his head. She looked up at him once again. Now a smile broke through the frown. She laughed nervously a little bit at him.

"Yeah, I guess" she said as she released herself from Shino's arms and stood up. The two friends smiled at each other. Shino and Hinata looked slightly shocked. Rin had been so miserable just moments ago and now she was standing there practically smiling from ear to ear. Naruto and Rin did however both know that Rin was going to have to explain further to Naruto later on. She always became miserable when she lost, sure, but never _that_ miserable. Rin then turned around to the shocked looking Shino. She reached him her hand and helped him up to embrace him. She then reached up and whispered a thank you in his ear. He hugged her back knowing what she meant.

Naruto and Hinata silently decided to leave Shino and Rin alone and walked over to Sakura and Kiba to decide how to get back to the camp. They had after all an entire family to transport there with them.

Hinata got to carry Hamano back to camp also. He had apparently started to trust her despite their short knowing of each other. Hamano's younger brother got to ride on Akamaru. The Daiymo himself was carried by Shino while Naruto carried the Daiymo's wife.

It didn't take long until they once again came back to the camp. Since all that weren't shinobis could be carried they didn't stall them too much. Sure they slowed them down a little bit, but not that much. When they arrived Kakashi and Kurenai were still standing over at the unconscious Hara. They were talking over the situation whether or not to interrogate Hara now also or wait until they get back to Konoha. If they interrogated him before they would still know a little if he escaped. Then it wasn't entirely sure if they would get anything at all, and in that case they would only waste time that they could use to get back. Then of course they couldn't ask him anything yet anyway. He was still unconscious after getting hit by Kiba. When they arrived Kakashi walked over to talk to the Daiymo about the current situation about the criminals.

Kiba walked away a bit from the others and sat down. He still felt down. In some way he felt even worse when he saw that Rin felt better than him again. He knew that he shouldn't feel that way, but he couldn't help it. In some way he was jealous of her and her fast recovery and that made him feel worse. Then it made him feel even worse when he realized that he was jealous of her. In that way his mode had gone down in a spiral.

Sakura came walking over and sat down beside him. None of them said anything at first. He didn't have anything to say to her, he just wanted to be alone. She didn't really know what to say at first.

"How do you feel?" She then asked him after a while. The only reply she got from her boyfriend was a grunt. She looked over at him to see him looking the other way. She stretched out her hand to touch his shoulder. He shook it of. That was about when she snapped. She had gone and been irritated at him since he had told her not to pity him.

"I'm sorry for caring" she then nearly yelled angry at him as she stood up. She started to walk away from him but after just a few steps away she turned around towards him.

"Why don't you just snap out of it?" She asked him sounding angry. "You're just feeling sorry for yourself without a reason right now" she then continued.

"What do you mean without a reason? My mission was to get the kid out of the crossfire. Do you think I succeeded with that? Well, I don't think so and therefore I don't feel very good right now" Kiba nearly exploded at her as he stood up in his anger.

"Your mission was to get the boy, not only to get him out of the crossfire. It would have been good if you would have gotten him out of the crossfire also. So you could have done a better job, yes, but you can _always _do a better job. Just be happy you got the boy away from them okay" she replied just as angry before she turned around and walked over to the others. Kiba now stood there left alone looking slightly dumb as he pondered what she had said. After a while he grunted and sat down once again.

_Who does she think she is? Tries to lecture me about how I should feel. Can't I just feel the way I feel or something? _

_Then maybe she's right? _

_No, Kiba, no you can't get whipped! Do you get that? _

_Yeah, but it does lay something in what she said._

_So what?_

_Gah, I'm too tired to think about it._

-----------------------------------------------

Hamano was talking to Hinata. He had really started to like her. It was something about her calm and gentle way that he liked. Then it was also the fact that her eyes looked the same as his. It was something about her way of acting that he thought was so much like himself.

Soon the Daiymo came walking over to them.

"Hello Hyuuga-san" he said as he approached them. Hinata looked up at him, when she saw who it was she quickly bowed.

"Hello Daiymo-sama" she said to him. The Daiymo looked over to his son.

"I see you have grown fond of Hyuuga-san Hamano-kun" he said to him with a smile. Hamano smiled and nodded to his father.

"Hamano-kun, could you please go and join your mother. I think that she wants you there and I would like to speak with Hyuuga-san" He then said as he turned his gaze from Hamano to Hinata. Hamano looked at Hinata before he nodded and started to run to his mother. The Daiymo and Hinata watched him run away before they once again turned to each other.

"I guess you must have some questions about Hamano-kun Hyuuga-san" The Daiymo then said to Hinata.

"Hai Daiymo-sama, how come Hamano-kun has the Byakugan?" Hinata replied. The Daiymo sighed before he started talking.

"The Bird country chooses its Daiymo as you might know. Just like your villages choose its Kage" The Daiymo started.

"Therefore when I was young I was just a normal man. I might have had it good, but I wasn't borne to this position" he then continued.

"One of these days when I was young a young couple came to Bird country"

-------Flashback------------------------------------

_A young couple with pale skin and black long hair came walking down a road leading to the capital of the Bird country. Their eyes had a scary white looking colour with no visible pupils. Their eyes still yet held something enchanting over them. The woman was carrying an infant child in her arms. _

_Down the same road a man came walking in the direction from the capital. He had black hair and brown eyes. He stopped when he came across the couple._

"_Konnichi wa" he said as he bowed slightly to them. _

"_Konnichi wa" they said as they bowed back at him._

"_You're heading in to town?" the man asked them._

"_Hai, actually we are looking for somebody to take care of our child" the woman then said sounding almost desperate suddenly. _

"_How come?" the man asked them sounding shocked. At the thought of why both the woman and the man looked down at the ground with frowns on their faces. Apparently they didn't like thinking about it. Then the man looked up and in to his eyes. When he met the other man's gaze he realized the scary color of the eyes. That white tint almost made shivers run down his spine and he was happy they weren't filled with anger towards him._

"_We have ran away from our home village, from his destiny, to save him. The only way to save him is to let somebody adopt him as their own child. We won't make it much further, our clan is probably after us and not too far behind" the white eyed man then explained. The other man looked shocked at him._

"_Nani? W-what do you mean?" he then asked after a while a bit unsure. The man sighed before he was going to continue on explaining. He was however interrupted._

"_Wait, you shouldn't explain it all here on the road. Please follow me to my home and explain there. If you want you can stay the night. By the way, my name is Bokusou Hasegawa" he then said to them._

"_Hai, my name is Hyuuga Kenta, and this is my wife Hyuuga Michiyo" The other man then said before he followed Hasegawa to his home in town._

_-------End of Flashback-----------------------------------------------_

"Apparently they belonged to a clan which put a mark on some members and they didn't want their son to carry that mark and ran away" Hasegawa explained to Hinata.

"I can understand them actually. Do you know why we put that mark on the Branch family members Daiymo-sama?" Hinata then asked him.

"Not exactly, they only said it had something to do with controlling their kekkei-genkei" Hasegawa said as he thought back at the young Hyuuga couple's explanation.

"Hai, the Hyuuga clan is divided in the Main family and the Branch family. The Branch family all carries the caged bird mark on their foreheads. With the help of that and a special hand sign the members of the Main family can... control them... so to speak. Then it also makes sure that the Byakugan are sealed when they die. It's our way of making sure that the secret of the Byakugan maintains a secret. So I can truly understand why they didn't want him to have it" Hinata then explained to the Daiymo.

"Ow, so that should mean that you are a part of the main family since you don't have any mark on your forehead?" the Daiymo then asked Hinata.

"Hai, actually I'm the heiress to the clan... probably" she then said a little insecure at the ending when she remembered about the trial.

"Really? What a wonderful future you must have ahead of you then. You must be really happy about it" The Daiymo who hadn't heard the 'probably' then said happily.

"Hai" Hinata then said with a forced smile.

"In that case you might know what will happen to Hamano-kun then" Hasegawa then said sounding more serious. Hinata looked at Hamano and sighed.

"I'm afraid not. He's too old to get the caged bird mark. Therefore his Byakugan won't seal up when he dies and the secret can leak out" Hinata said after a while sounding just as serious as the Daiymo.

"What do you mean too old?" he asked her.

"It's not exactly a pleasant experience to get it. It messes up your chakra channels slightly, otherwise it wouldn't do anything special. To mess up your chakra channels are really painful. Therefore we do it when they are very young so the chakra channels aren't completely finished yet. And you won't remember it" she explained. "So if we did it to Hamano-kun now it would be almost too painful for him. The possibility that it would kill him is even there" she then added. She still yet hadn't turned her gaze from the young boy.

**A/N: So hope you liked it! As always when writing fighting scenes I hope they aren't exaggerated or bad since I ain't all that good at writing fighting scenes :P**

**Well well, till next time have it good!!!**


	15. Traveling and an explanation

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto**

**A/N: So, chapter 15 here now. Don't really have that much to say before hand so, let's just continue.**

Chapter 15: Traveling and an explanation

When Hinata and the Daiymo had finished talking he went back to his family feeling both pleased and slightly worried. Both because of his son's probable future. Pleased that the boy wouldn't have to get the caged bird mark. Worried about the fact that he didn't know that much more about Hamano's future.

Naruto who had heard their conversation went over to Hinata.

"Oi Hinata-chan" Hinata turned around towards the sound of Naruto's voice.

"Hello Naruto-kun" She said with a weak smile still thinking about Hamano's future just like his father.

"So, you don't have any idea what will happen to him do you?" He then asked Hinata as he looked over at Hamano. Hinata also looked over at the boy and sighed before she answered.

"Nope, I will have to inform otou-sama and then he will decide since he's the clan leader" she then said. Naruto just nodded.

"Yeah, about that. Your father is the leader and you are the heiress. Still yet you said probably. Why?" Naruto then asked her looking back at her. Hinata looked at him looking slightly shocked before she got her face back to normal.

"What are you talking about Naruto-kun?" she asked him.

"Is it that bad Hinata?" he then asked her not taking real notice of her question. The lack of chan made Hinata react and realize that he really was serious about it. She looked down at the ground with a frown on her face.

"I'm on trial" she said to the ground.

"What do you mean?" he asked her.

"The Hyuuga council thinks that I'm too weak to be the heiress. My father objected, and since both he and the council are equally powerful in the clan they had to compromise. So I'm on trial whether or not I should be the heiress" she explained still not looking up from the ground.

"Seriously?" Naruto asked her sounding almost angry.

"Hai" At the sight of Hinata looking that sad Naruto stretched out his arms and embraced her in a comforting hug.

"Lucky you ain't weak then eh" he then said to her as he was hugging her.

"Naruto-kun" Hinata said as they parted a little bit. She was still in his arms but was now able to look him in the eyes.

"Hey, no time for that now lovebirds" Kakashi said as he walked up to them. Naruto and Hinata practically jumped away from each other by the shock.

"Kaka-sensei" Naruto said as he and Hinata now were standing there blushing like crazy. Kakashi chuckled a little bit at the two teens.

"The reinforcements from Bird country are here to pick up the criminals. We would appreciate your help to load them on to the wagons" He then said to them.

"Hai" they both said before they walked of to the wagons with Kakashi.

The Daiymo and his family followed the men from Bird country back to the capital. The eight Konoha nins started to travel back to Konoha with an unconscious sound shinobi.

They had bound him up in a big cloth. Therefore he would be unable to move even when he woke up and he became easier to carry. At the moment Naruto had gotten the oh-so-fun assignment to carry him.

"Oi, Kiba-kun exactly how hard did you hit him? He's been out for hours now" the blonde boy said as he rearranged his hold on Hara.

"Maybe you killed him" he then said sounding thoughtful.

"I didn't kill him" Kiba said sounding angry as he turned around towards Naruto without stopping.

"I'm just saying. It's not normal for somebody to be out for this long"

"He probably just hit some special point on his head" Kakashi then said interrupting the two boys.

"Yeah probably, I don't really think Kiba would be able to hit anybody that hard anyway" Naruto then said.

"You saying I'm weak?" Kiba asked him sounding even angrier now.

"So what if I'm saying that?" Naruto asked him sounding mocking.

"Nock it of you two" Sakura then said sounding irritated. You could easily see her eyebrow twitching out of anger. Kiba looked at his girlfriend slightly terrified.

"What are you gonna do otherwise Sakura-chan?" Naruto asked her just as mockingly as he had asked Kiba a second ago.

"I'm not in the mood right now Naruto so don't stretch it!" Sakura said to him warningly.

"Why not? PMSing are we?" he then asked her in the same tone. This made Sakura snap. She turned around looking really angry and threw a punch into the ground. Her punch made the ground crack and a bunch of boulders erupt from the ground. Conveniently for her Naruto happened to be on the space of ground that this happened to. Therefore he fell with the ground. As he landed after quite some time of falling and trying to keep his grip on Hara he looked up at Sakura.

"Was that really necessary?" He screamed at her sounding angry as he pointed at her. Sakura just turned around and walked away. Kiba looked after her with a small frown.

"Hey, what's with her?" Naruto asked him. Kiba looked at him.

"She's still angry at me" He told the blonde boy.

"Ow, yeah I heard you two over at the camp" Naruto said as he scratched his neck awkwardly. Kiba just looked down at the ground.

"I just don't know what to do" Kiba said to the ground. Naruto jumped out of the crater and landed next to Kiba.

"I know I should say I'm sorry but I don't see why I should apologize for feeling a certain way" Kiba then continued.

"Yeah, well sorry but I don't think that I'm the best person to ask about that kind of thing. Maybe you should try somebody else. Like Hinata-chan or somebody" Naruto said. Kiba just nodded a little bit.

Hara didn't wake up until a couple of hours later. It was now Sakura who had the pleasant part of carrying him.

Hara stirred as he became conscious. Where was he? He felt tired and couldn't move. Whole his head hurt. It felt as if something was trying to press the cranium outwards. Every time his heart pulsed blood through his head it felt as if it would explode because of the pain. The light hurt in his eyes when he first opened them. It felt as if he had an extreme hangover. After a while the pain subsided and was only noticeable as a small throbbing at the side of his head. That was about when he was able to pay any real interest in his surroundings. He was bumping slightly and was seeing what he thought was the ground. Then he realized that it was the ground he was looking at and that the small bumps came from him being carried by somebody who was walking. He then realized that the reason for him not being able to move was the fact that he was tied up not only by rope but also by a big piece of cloth that covered his entire body. He turned his head trying to see who was carrying him and saw the back side of a head covered in pink hair just shorter than shoulder length. He tried to figure out how come he was tied up and carried by somebody with pink hair. Then he remembered. Hamano sitting alone in a tent. Him walking out together with Hamano to his team mates. Them being attacked by Konoha shinobis. Sakamoto's sister. Both Sakamoto and Amane fighting. Him being attacked by somebody who tried to take Hamano. Sakamoto calling for him and holding a limp Amane in his arms. Then something hitting the side of his head. Then it was black. He had lost and was now a captive, that was why he was being carried. Had Sakamoto and Amane gotten away?

He tried to move even more now. Making Sakura aware of him being conscious.

"Hey stop that squirming" she said to him as she held him harder. Hara didn't listen to her.

"I said stop that" she repeated as she now used some of her inhuman strength to keep him still. Hara felt how he suddenly became unable to even squirm and how her arms pressed down on him with an immense pressure.

"Aoo" he almost screamed because of the new pressure. It wasn't smart to do so. The sound made the pressure on his head became greater. Both because of the sound that cut through his ears and the fact that making sound apparently didn't help either. Suddenly he was lifted up from the shoulder he was hanging over. Sakura put him sitting in front of herself, her legs making him able to sit up. Hara looked upwards to be met by the face of a girl with pink hair. The one who had been carrying him. He looked down from her only to be met by another face merely inches from his. The person had silvery hair. His face was covered by a cloth mask and his forehead protector covered his left eye. It was Hatake Kakashi the copy ninja who was looking him straight in the eyes. He felt how he tensed up by the almost terrifying sight.

"E-e-eeh" was the only sound Hara could get out at first.

"So you are awake now are you?" Kakashi said to him. "You took your time to wake up" he then added.

"Well well, you are awake now so no need to hold any grudge because of that" he then said sounding happy. His visible eye showing of the fact that he was smiling underneath his mask.

"Now, what was your reason for being in that camp?" He then asked Hara suddenly sounding far more serious.

"That is none of your business" Hara answered sounding just as serious. Kakashi closed his eye and sighed heavily. He opened it again and looked at Hara once more.

"You can choose to answer the question now nice and easy or we can have Konoha's own interrogation expert Morino Ibiki drag the answer out of you. What were you doing in that camp and why?"

"I already told you, that is none of your business" Hara said now sounding almost angry.

"Guess he haven't heard of Ibiki-san, eh?" Kurenai then said standing next to Kakashi looking down at Hara. Hara turned his angry gaze towards the woman.

"Mmm" was all Kakashi said without turning his head towards Kurenai.

"Guess we will just have to wait until we get to Konoha. If he doesn't know who Ibiki-san is he won't say anything" Kurenai then said.

"Yeah, guess you're right" Kakashi said as he stood up and turned around. Sakura picked Hara up once again ignoring his loud protests. They all started to walk once more.

"Ano.. I think I know why they were there Kurenai-sensei" Hinata said insecurely as she walked up to her sensei. Kurenai turned her head towards Hinata looking questioningly at her.

"Really? Then why?" she asked her.

"Ano.. that boy, Hamano-kun. He didn't have any caged bird mark to seal his Byakugan when he died" Hinata explained. Kurenai smiled at her.

"We figured that much out on our own, but thanks for saying it anyway" she said nicely to her student.

"Mmm" Hinata just said and nodded.

When the nightfall came they stopped and made camp. The tents were divided in the same way as earlier. Hara was almost thrown in to a corner in Kakashi and Kurenai's tent. They didn't say much when they ate. No one had anything to say. Soon some of them started yawning and they decided to go to bed.

"So, who wants to have second watch?" Kakashi asked them all. He and Kurenai were to have first watch. At first no one said anything. Then Rin decided to offer herself this time.

"I can take it" she said to him.

"Good, so who wants to have it with Rin?" Kakashi then asked the rest of them. Shino opened his mouth to say that he would take it. Naruto was faster however.

"I can take it with her Kaka-sensei" The blonde boy said as he looked at Rin. She looked over at him when he spoke. She knew exactly why he wanted to have watch with her when she saw the look he gave her. He wanted to know about Sakamoto. At the same time as Naruto looked at Rin he tried his best to ignore the almost evil stares that Shino gave his back. Hinata felt a little bit disappointed, she had been looking forward a little bit at having watch together with Naruto again. She really wanted to talk to him about what had happened between them. Or more what _almost _happened between them if it hadn't been for that baka Kiba.

Kiba could feel someone staring at him. When he turned his head he found Hinata sitting and glaring angry at him. She looked _really _pissed of. He did however not know why. What had he done now to deserve her anger? He felt how he tensed up and started to sweat a little bit under her gaze. It was just so angry. Still yet it didn't look as if she was looking at him particularly concentrated. He waved his hand a little bit as a terrified way. At this she snapped her head a little bit and looked at him surprised. Then when she realized what she had done she gave him a nervous smile and waved back a little bit.

Naruto was woken by Kakashi whom had the first watch as usual. He went up to find that Kurenai still yet hadn't managed to wake up Rin. So he sat down at the fire and waited. Soon Kurenai came out of the tent followed by a tired looking Rin.

"Good night" Kurenai said as she entered her tent.

"Yeah, good night" Naruto replied. Rin walked away in to the forest a bit. Naruto wondered where she was going but didn't ask. When she came back her hair was dripping and she didn't look as tired anymore. She had been to the stream close by to splash her face and wake up.

"Yo" she said as she walked over to him and sat down.

"Yo" he replied.

After a while of just sitting there he spoke up.

"So, that was your brother?" he asked her looking in to the fire instead of at her.

"Yeah, Kizume Sakamoto" Naruto nodded at this.

"You wanna tell me about him?" he then asked her in the same way, still not looking at her. She sighed before she started talking.

"When I was four and lost control over Hachibi I started to get watched over by somebody all the time. Most times he had to watch over me. He didn't like it, he didn't see why he should waste his precious time on his demon sister. And he made sure that I knew how he felt. But then he couldn't just go around saying things like that to me now could he. People might hear him and he'd lose his reputation or something. So he became an expert on letting me know these kinds of things without using words" she then explained.

"Couldn't you have told somebody or something?" Naruto then asked her looking at her now. She looked over and met his gaze.

"I thought you had understood how my family is" she then claimed.

"Oh, yeah. Forgot that" Naruto said as he turned his head from her to the fire again.

"Just the feeling he gave me with his actions. I really don't remember many of them, as I said he didn't use words or make it obvious. Sometimes I even doubt myself that he did anything. But then I remembered it now again. I just felt so ... useless. The way he was throwing back my attacks as if they were nothing. The way he ignored every single one of my openings, just to show me every single one of my opening and show me how worthless I am compared to him in battle. How he made sure that I knew that the only reason he took one of the openings was because he was bored with me. I didn't provide him with enough amusement" her voice almost broke on the last word. After finishing it she broke down crying just by the though of the feeling. Naruto looked over towards her at the sound of her crying. He moved over to her and laid a comforting hand on her shoulder. She turned around so she was facing him and started to cry in to his shoulder. At first Naruto didn't know exactly what to do. Then he decided to just put his hands on her back trying to be comforting.

"So, no wonder you broke down that much just because you lost" he then said trying to lighten her mood up a little bit.

"He, yeah" she laughed out a little bit between the sobs. She bent back out of his embrace and dried her eyes a little bit with the back of her hand.

"You ok?" he asked her.

"Hai"

"Good" he said as he gave her a true smile. She loved that smile. It wasn't the big grin he had learned to use to hide how he truly felt sometimes. It was a true smile, the real smile of her best friend. She smiled back at him.

"So was your sisters that way also?" he then asked in a normal tone again.

"No, not even near" she said with a smile at the memory of her younger sisters.

"They are probably the only ones I miss" she then said. _'Yura-chan, Arimi-chan' _she then added in her thoughts.

**A/N: As usual I hope you liked it, please review!!!!!!!!!!!!**

**I think I have to get to writing fast again, I'm only two chapters ahead of you as it is right now xD**


	16. Growling

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto**

**A/N: All I have to say is a quick thank you for all the reviews, faves and alerts that I have gotten during these 16 chapters:D**

Chapter 16: Growling

The next day Kiba decided to ask Hinata what he should do. He wanted to do it early, unfortunately he had to carry Hara first today. He decided to ask her then anyway.

"Hey Hinata-chan, can I ask you something?" he asked her as he walked up to her.

"You just asked her something punk" came from behind his shoulder. Kiba ignored Hara.

"Of course Kiba-kun" Hinata answer him ignoring Hara as well.

"Yeah, well I guess you also heard me and Sakura over at the camp" he said to her.

"Yeah, sorry about that" she replied.

"Don't be. I guess I'm the one who should be. I just .." he started not knowing how to continue.

"Yay, I had to be carried by _him_. A teen-age boy that thinks he is having trouble with his girlfriend. I guess he will go to her next and I'll have to listen to them making up" Hara said despondently. Kiba and Hinata once again ignored him.

"You don't see why you should apologize for feeling a certain way?" Hinata asked Kiba gently smiling once again. Kiba looked at her slightly shocked.

"Yeah, how did you know that?" he asked her.

"Women's intuition or something, don't know really" she said as she waved her hand non-caring.

"Well, well, you still have to apologize" she started.

"But.."

"No Kiba, listen!" Hinata interrupted him.

"You have to apologize for how you acted towards her. You should though tell her that you're not apologizing for how you felt. But for how you acted. Myself I agree with you, you shouldn't apologize for how you feel" Hinata then explained. Kiba looked at her amazed for a while before cracking up in to a huge grin.

"Thanks Hinata-chan. You make it sound so easy, still yet I didn't even think of that" Kiba then said, his amazement audible in his voice.

"Maybe because you're a stupid teen age boy while she is a smart teen age girl has something to do with it punk" Hara shot in expecting to once again being ignored. Kiba however had gotten enough when it came to Hara's little comments and gave him a big punch in the head. (A/N: don't ask me how he managed to reach. xD)

--

After passing on Hara to Shino Kiba went over to talk to Sakura.

"Ano.. Sakura-chan. Can we talk?" he asked her walking up next to her. On her other side Rin was walking.

"I guess" she said looking at him. Rin smirked a little bit before she picked up the pace.

"I think I'll go and talk to the imbecile for a while" she said as she turned around towards them walking backwards for a few steps. Sakura looked after her as if she wished she had stayed there. Because if Rin had stayed there with them it would mean Kiba wouldn't want to talk for real. He wouldn't want to start an argue about her out burst from him feeling a certain way. She really didn't feel like arguing with him right now.

"Sakura-chan, Gomen" Kiba said sounding insecure. Sakura turned her head towards him with a shocked expression.

"What?" she asked him.

"I'm sorry for how I acted towards you. I'm not sorry for how I felt, but I _am _sorry for acting like an idiot towards you" he explained.

"Oh" was all Sakura could reply at first. Then when she got over the shock she started to smile instead.

"You're forgotten. And I'm sorry too. I shouldn't have acted like an idiot either" she then said.

"That's alright" he answered before he bent down and gave her a quick kiss on the lips.

--

Shino was walking ahead of the two close by to Hinata.

"God I was lucky. I don't think I would have been able to be carried by him during that without throwing up" Hara said as he hung there over Shino's shoulder. Hinata looked back and saw Sakura and Kiba kissing as they were walking and smiled.

"I mean just look at them, that conversation _must _have been extremely corny. I just hate corny things that teen-agers tend to come up with, those things are just _too _corny to be true" Hara then said. Neither Hinata nor Shino were listening however. When he noticed this he sighed deeply. Why wouldn't they take notice of him?

* * *

Towards the night they came across a town. None of them took much notice of it except Kakashi. He stopped and looked over at it. By now he was carrying Hara.

"Hey you guys, what about sleeping indoors?" he called out after the others.

They all stopped and looked at him. Shino felt how he stiffened up at the sight of the town. It was the same town that they had stopped at on their way there.

"One night in a town won't make that much difference. Besides me and Kurenai got a bigger budget for out side mission and managed to spend almost none of that. So if we keep it cheap we could probably almost sleep inside for the rest of the trip unnoticed" Kakashi then explained.

"That sounds really good Kakashi-san" Kurenai said.

"So you mean we won't sleep outside and having to take watch anymore till we get to Konoha?" Naruto asked sounding hopeful

"Didn't say that, there aren't enough towns along the road for that" Kakashi answered as Naruto's head started to hang. He really had gotten his hopes up.

"Well, well let's just go in to town" Kakashi then said before he turned around and started to walk towards the town. Hinata found herself silently wishing that the 'exotic week' was over.

--

Because of the still pretty tight budget they had to take in to a hostel once again. Not just any hostel, the same one.

Shino desperately hoped that somebody else was standing at the counter. Six shinobis weren't exactly easy to forget. Then there was the part of him not knowing how the guy looked. Every single one of them had forgotten. The only thing they remembered was the plainness of his look. They just hoped it was somebody else.

Behind the counter a guy in their age stood. He had brown hair and brown eyes. His look was as plain as it can get and you wouldn't be able to remember it even if your life depended on it.

_'Oh shit' _Shino thought. That just had to be the same guy. There couldn't be more than one person who looked that plain.

"Hey you again. So you liked your staying here didn't you?" The guy said to them as he recognized them. All six of them felt how they stiffened up and looked terrified at their senseis. Kakashi and Kurenai looked questioningly at them.

"Shino-kun, what does he mean with that you are here _again_?" Kurenai asked her student as she bent forward so that her face was in front of his.

"Ehm, Kurenai-sensei eh-eeeeh he he he he ehh" Was pretty much all Shino could get out.

"I'm sorry, it's my fault. I really wanted to sleep in town one night, so I pretty much nagged on him until he agreed" Rin said as she looked down at the floor regretfully. Everybody looked at her shocked. What was she saying? She didn't do that!

"Oh" Kurenai then said with a knowing smirk. Kakashi just shook his head as he walked up to the counter.

"Well, we are ehm nine you could say and a dog" he said to the guy behind the counter.

"Oh, well I'm sorry but all rooms except the biggest one are taken. It's probably because of the festivals tomorrow night, it's the end of the exotic week" The guy behind the counter said with a smile.

"Oh, then I guess we will just have to take that one. You don't happen to have any spare mattresses do you?" Kakashi then asked him.

"Of course we do, how many will you need?" he replied. Kakashi turned around towards them asking them how many with his look. Kiba put his arm around Sakura as if to mutually say that they would share sleeping place. No one else made a move or said anything.

"Four" Kakashi said as with a smiling eye to the guy behind the counter as he turned around again.

"Okay" he replied as he turned around to grab the key.

--

As they got to the room they discovered that it was the same room as last time. Sakura and Kiba quickly ran and made sure to get the same bed as last time before anybody else even could get in to the room.

"Well, since me and Kurenai are team leaders we obviously get one bed each, the rest of you can fight for the last one" Kakashi said as he went over to one of the beds. Kurenai went to the corner and practically threw Hara on the floor before she went to her bed.

The rest of them looked at each other before all of them started to rush towards the bed. When they were just two meters from the bed Naruto jumped in to the air aiming for the bed. He was soon to reach it. Then Rin who had jumped up on the table and jumped from there put her hand on his head and pressed him down.

This way he landed head first to the floor while Rin landed on the bed gracefully. She quickly spun around and stood on all four looking at the other ones. Then a sound escaped her lips. More specifically that sound was a growl.

Everybody froze and looked almost terrified at her. Even she herself shared the same expression with the rest of them. Had she really just growled? Then suddenly Naruto bursted out laughing uncontrollably rolling around on the floor holding his stomach. At the same time he was able to point with his entire arm towards Rin.

"HAHA di..d HAHA yoHAHAu just HAHA growl? HAHAHAHAHA" he laughed at her. She just looked at him shocked before she too started to laugh. She laughed so much that she fell over and was now laying on the bed laughing rolling around similar to Naruto. Soon all in the room laughed uncontrollably at Rin's weird acting. Then Rin rolled too long to the side and bumped down on the floor. This just made Naruto burst out in even more laughter.

When the guy working at the hostel came with the mattresses he was greeted by the sight of eight shinobis laughing so out of control that they were barely breathing.

* * *

After they had gotten back their breaths they went out to eat.

Hinata had hoped for the 'exotic week' to be over. Unfortunately for her it wasn't. Because of the festival the next day the theme week was even easier to notice now. She could even feel the stares of the men when they saw her eyes. She watched over at Sakura who most definitely also could feel them. Kiba was walking with his arm around her so she probably wouldn't have to worry. If they for some reason still yet would try something Kiba wouldn't be too much help though. He wouldn't have the time before Rin came and beat the crap out of them.

At the thought of Rin she looked over at the red head. She was walking hand in hand with Shino. So they probably wouldn't try anything on her either. Even if Rin didn't care if they were civilians or not they were still irritating. Then because both the other girls walked like that with their boyfriends it was only her left amongst the young ones. Sure there were always Kurenai her teacher, but for some reason she didn't seem to be bothered much by them despite her red and unusual eyes.

Suddenly she felt somebody's arm around her waist. She looked up to see Naruto walk there beside her with a stern look on his face. She felt how she blushed slightly but still yet a small smile placed it self on her lips.

* * *

Amane and Sakamoto entered the city at this time. Since Amane had been unconscious for such a short time they didn't start following them until she woke up. When she eventually had woken up Sakamoto hadn't asked about her scar. He had mentioned neither that nor her mask.

Right now they were both wearing one of her genjutsus. She had mainly just erased her scar while Sakamoto had changed a lot more since everybody had seen him clearly. Only Hinata had seen Amane's face clearly. So as long as they didn't wear their own clothes and concealed everything that made it clear that they were shinobis they should be fine.

They immediately heard people talk about some kind of festival that was going to take place the next evening. Apparently there had been some kind of 'theme week' which was named the 'exotic week'. To them it sounded like it was the main event of the year in this little town. After a while they understood that this 'exotic week' wasn't exactly a family thing. It had to do with the brothels and them looking for women with exotic looks. This suited them just perfectly Sakamoto thought.

"Hey Amane-san, doesn't this just sound _too _convenient to be true almost?" he asked his team mate.

"What do you mean Sakamoto-san?" she asked him sounding slightly confused. He looked over at her and was once again slightly shocked to not see her mask. He hadn't showed it to her but he still wasn't used to see her face.

"You remember how some of those girls look?" He asked her starting to grow a smirk. Now she understood him.

"Yeah right, it shouldn't be so hard to find them in this town then I guess" she said as she also started to grow a smirk.

They then went to ask people about those girls with pink hair or white eyes.

When they walked out of the restaurant Naruto didn't wait to put his arm around Hinata once again. He really didn't want to walk there beside her and see those looks she got. When he kept his arm around her he felt more at peace since she got less looks.

--

Sakura looked over at her blond friend and smiled. It was actually a little bit surprising to see Naruto walk with his arm around Hinata's waist. Rin and Shino settled for holding hands and not even Kiba put his arm around her waist. He put it around her shoulders like most guys. Naruto on the other hand went as bold as to put his arm around Hinata's waist. Around the waist of a girl which probably isn't even his girlfriend yet. Right then she felt just so happy for Hinata.

* * *

Hinata barely got out of the restaurant before she felt Naruto's arm around her waist. She looked up at him this time also. This time however Naruto didn't have a stern look and he looked back down at her. He held a smile on his face also.

She felt herself starting to drift of into his eyes when she saw something that felt disturbing in the corner of her eye. She looked over and saw a young couple just a few years older than them. At least she thought they were a couple, they didn't show any physical affection so they could just as well have been just friends.

She didn't really take much notice to the guy, it was the girl she looked at. It felt as if she _should _know who it was. As if she had seen her before, even as if she had seen her recently. Still yet she couldn't say where she had seen her. The girl was quite beautiful actually. She had light brown hair pulled back up in to a bun and blue eyes with a purple tint to them. Her cheekbones was just enough prominent and she had a small mouth with full lips. Her eyes were formed like a cat's and suited her face well. She was wearing a plain kimono in the same color as her eyes.

The other girl looked back and Hinata. She didn't show any sign of planning to look away. The feeling of that something was wrong grew stronger.

Hinata looked over at the guy, he had black hair and dark brown eyes with a couple of glasses placed on his nose. He was wearing a plain dark blue kimono. Just as the girl he was also looking over at them. Then she realized that both of them were wearing a smirk smile each. She had first thought that they were going the other way but now she noticed that they were heading towards them.

She once again looked at the girl when she realized it. She saw the same face but with an ugly and huge scar across it. It was Amane, one of Hara's team mates. She looked over at the guy, it was probably Sakamoto, Rin's brother. That technique Amane had used on Hinata when she started remembering stuff from her childhood had probably been some kind of genjutsu. That should mean that the sound girl was a genjutsu expert just as Hinata's sensei. Therefore she could easily lay one over Sakamoto and make him look like that.

Hinata jumped away from Naruto towards Amane and Sakamoto. She threw a kunai at Sakamoto before she tried to land a kick to the top of Amane's head. Sakamoto easily side-stepped the fast kunai and showed himself of being at shinobi level when it came to fighting.

Amane put up both her hands as protection and grabbed Hinata's leg. She threw away Hinata at the ground. Hinata however put her hands down to the ground and pushed away to do a handspring up to her feet again. She stood there looking at the two other shinobi who both had a smirk each. Her friends and senseis both stood there looking surprised. All the civilians that knew even less of what happened than Hinata's friends looked both shocked and scared.

"So, you saw through my genjutsu or something?" Amane asked Hinata.

"Actually no, you just didn't take into consideration that I had seen your face very clearly. I recognized you and then could understand that he had to be Sakamoto since you were so good with genjutsus" Hinata explained as she nodded at Sakamoto.

"Well, you have to think that you are smart now then. Well I admit you got us, it is Sakamoto and he is wearing a genjutsu. Now, tell us where Hara is" Amane then said to her.

"Are you stupid or something, to tell us that it really is him is just stupid. Besides what makes you think that we will actually tell you where Hara is?" Sakura then said as she stepped up next to Hinata. Amane grew a smirk.

"Oh, it's the pink-head. We had quite some time hearing about all the fantasies that the men in this town have about you" she said without looking at Sakura. Then after a while she looked over at her.

"Some of them are really graphic. Almost as if they were more than just fantasies" she said as her smirk grew wider. Sakura's hands were clenched in fists shaking from anger. How did that person dare to say something like that?

Suddenly she didn't care about the civilians around them anymore. In some way she managed to clench her right fist even harder and then hit down at the ground releasing chakra with it making the ground start to shake. Amane and Sakamoto both crouched a little bit to stabilize from the shaking. Then the shaking ended and it seemed as if nothing more would happen. Amane stood back up with a smirk on her face.

Sakura was still standing with her fist close to the ground not looking up at her. Amane was just to ask her if that was all she could do when the ground around them suddenly cracked. It wasn't just the ground closest to them, it was the entire street. It cracked up into several smaller pieces and all the cracks erupted in the blink of an eye. Amane felt how her eyes widened and how everything seemed to go in slow motion suddenly. All the big boulders started to fall since there were cracks everywhere now. With the ground they fell also. She could feel how the ground just seemed to give away under her feet.

Sakura still hadn't moved when the ground started to move. She felt so angry. When it did start to fall away from under their feet she made an attempt to get to Amane and beat the shit out of her. Before she could she felt how somebody's arms lifted her and jumped away. When she looked up she saw that it was Kakashi that had thrown her over his shoulder. She looked back to where she had been standing just seconds ago and saw that if Kakashi hadn't taken her she would have been crushed by now. She had been extremely lucky that all the civilians had started to walk away from them as soon as Hinata had charged at Amane. Otherwise she would have had several deaths on her conscience right now.

**A/N: Personally I just love the scene where Rin growls xD**

**I came up with it as I was lying in bed trying to sleep. I started to laugh to myself as I thought about it xD**

**Please Review!!**


	17. Chakra signatures

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto**

**A/N: I'm starting to panic slowly over here, my writing with this story is before what I upload. When I started uploading chapters I was like five chapters ahead with the writing. Right now I have just started with chapter 19... This does defiantly not feel good!**

Chapter 17: Chakra signatures

They were standing there on a roof next to the now totally destroyed street. All the stones had by now settled and laid still. It would still yet not be smart to walk there since the slightest movement on one stone could make the rest of them starting to move again. That was somewhat of a positive thing for them since it meant that just a very small move from Amane or Sakamoto could most surely be seen. None of them could see any movement from the two sound shinobi. They couldn't sense their chakra signatures either.

"Let's get away from here" Kakashi said before he darted of towards the hostel to get Hara.

Rin didn't really know how to feel. She had just once again met her brother up close. She had once again not managed to kill him. Only this time she hadn't even had the time to try killing him. She had felt how her want to hurt him had blown up when she found out that the black haired man with blue kimono was actually him. The feeling was still just as big and prominent. She continued on trying to feel his chakra signature without any success. She was both pleased that she didn't and somewhat disappointed. She wanted to be the one to kill him as pay back for all those years.

It didn't take long until they had gotten Hara and was out of town. It was getting dark quickly by now and all of them started to feel the sleepiness come over them more or less. It was noticeable on things like them not being able to really run straight and the pace was going down steadily. Kakashi noticed this and felt that they really should stop to sleep but they were just too close to the town still. He looked over at Naruto and Rin, they were the ones that seemed least tired. They almost didn't look tired at all. He sighed tiredly at their energy.

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Sakura could feel how she was getting more and more tired. That punch had taken a lot of her chakra. She put a hand down her pouch to get a soldier pill. To her horror she found no pills there. When she had packed at the beginning of the mission there hadn't been room for them. She had found the pills least important of all her medical equipment.

She tried to go on despite her exhaustion. She was able to for a while. Then she felt how her eyelids started to close despite the fact that she was running. She felt how the ground started to come up closer to her face but she blacked out before she collided with it.

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Rin heard something fall to the ground with a thump and looked back. She saw Sakura laying there on the ground unconscious. In the blink of an eye she turned around and darted to the other girl's side. She arrived at the same time as everybody else. Kakashi was sitting at his former student's face trying to wake her up. Rin just looked at Sakura and cursed at her self mutually for letting this happen to Sakura. As a Kizume it was her responsibility to make sure that something like this didn't happen. Kurenai looked up at Hinata.

"Hinata check how much chakra she has" she told the Hyuuga girl. Hinata nodded at Kurenai before she activated her Byakugan and looked at Sakura.

"It's bad. I don't think resting would be enough. She needs someone to pump in extra chakra" Hinata said sounding sad. This was the worst time to get in to that state. Everybody was exhausted and low on chakra already.

"Okay" Rin said as she reached over and put her hands over Sakura's chest.

"What are you doing?" Kiba asked her.

"I'm gonna pump in chakra to her system" Rin said not even looking up to him.

"No you ain't! I will do it" Naruto said as he sat down opposite to Rin and tried to remove her hands.

"Naruto I said I would do it!" Rin just said as she looked up at him. When she saw his face she realized that he didn't think she could do it.

"You of all should know that I have enough chakra for it" she said sounding irritated.

"I know that! But none of us want to jeopardize you getting too low on chakra. It's less of a risk to let me do it, at least right now when you are that desperate" Naruto said with a stern look. Rin knew exactly what he meant. She didn't want the Hachibi to take over her. Then when she was emotional it was a bigger risk of it actually doing that. It would be better to let Naruto do it since he first of all had more chakra naturally and then even if he _did _run low on chakra the Kyuubi wouldn't take over like the Hachibi. She frowned at his logic, something so rarely seen in Naruto. Then she looked up at him again as she once again placed her hands above Sakura's chest.

"It's my duty as a Kizume" she said as she looked him straight in the eyes.

'_It is probably the one good thing I can use the Hachibi for' _she then added in his thoughts. He looked back at her not looking away from her gaze for a bit. Then when he understood that everything that would make her reconsider would take too long. If even something that took that long would make her reconsider. He nodded and backed a little bit. Then he looked over at Hinata.

"Hinata-chan, can you watch Rin's chakra level so I know if I have to step in" he said to her. She looked over at him looking slightly startled that he had talked to her. Then she nodded as she directed her Byakugan towards Rin as the red haired girl started to direct her chakra in to their unconscious friend.

When Sakura woke up it was light out again. She felt heavy but rested. She sat up and looked around the tent. She was the only one still in it. She quickly got dressed and out of the tent. When she got out she found only Kakashi in camp. He was sitting around the fireplace. He looked over at her when he heard the tent opening flap.

"Hey Sakura, feeling any better?" he asked her. His look held something warm.

"Yeah, thanks. Where are the others?" She asked him.

"Since we didn't know for how long you would be unconscious they went to set up traps and secure the area while I stayed here to watch over you" he explained.

"Oh, okay. What happened anyway?" she then asked him sounding a little bit insecure as she looked down at the ground.

"After your little display of your strength you got a little bit low on chakra. That was about when we had to rush out of town and get as far away as possible. This wasn't that good for you and your chakra level, it didn't take long before you passed out. According to Hinata it wouldn't have been enough for you to just rest. So Rin directed some of her chakra in to you so your chakra level would go up faster" Kakashi explained.

"Oh, guess I overreacted a little bit with my 'little display' as you called it" Sakura said as she scratched the back of her neck. She felt unnerved. Something felt so strange. She just couldn't say exactly what it was. Then she realized. She could feel Kakashi's chakra signal too clearly. Usually you couldn't feel somebody's chakra signal until you tried, and even then you couldn't feel it this clearly. She could feel every little chakra path, she could even feel every tenketsu. If she learned the Jyuuken she would probably be able to close up Kakashi's tenketsus just as if she had been a Hyuuga and could see the tenketsus.

Then she could suddenly feel the others' chakra signals. Not as clearly and detailed as Kakashi's, but she could feel them without trying none the less. She could easily feel which signal belonged to which person. She could also feel how they were getting closer to the camp. She looked up to where they came from. Kakashi followed her gaze.

"Is there something there?" he asked her.

"The others are coming" was her only reply. He turned his head back at her looking confused.

"What?" he asked her. The confusion was prominent in his voice. She turned back at him.

"The other ones are coming back to camp" she explained.

"How can you know that?" he asked her confused.

"I can feel their chakra signals" she said calmly.

"Oh, I see" he said as he relaxed. She had only tried to feel her friends' chakra signals, nothing else. He didn't really know why he had tensed up like that at first. He didn't even know what it could be other than her feeling their chakra signals.

Just as Sakura had said the others came back to the camp not long after. Kakashi still yet thought that it took too long for them to come. The ability too feel somebody else's chakra signal didn't stretch that long when it came to the distance between the two persons. Therefore when she said that they were coming they should have been just outside of the camp and should even have entered it as they were still talking about how she knew they were coming. Still yet it took over a minute before they came, and in a minute you can come long as a shinobi. He didn't think about it that much though.

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Sakura still felt unnerved about feeling everybody's chakra signals so detailed. The extra unnerving thing was Naruto and Rin's chakra signals. Mostly their signals were just like the others, but it felt like there was a huge part of chakra within both of them that she couldn't feel. It felt like they contained a humongous hole within their chakra paths. She could however not actually be sure that there was anymore chakra in them at all since the chakra pathways she did feel in them were complete. Because of this weird feeling about them it felt as if she was being nosy, like she was snooping on them. She couldn't say why she felt like this, but she did.

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"So our traps turned out to be for nothing?" Naruto said after a while.

"No, I don't think so" Sakura replied.

"Even though I'm awake and up now I'm probably too low on chakra for us to get very far before I have to rest again" she then continued explaining.

"When do you think you are recovered enough to continue towards Konoha?" Kakashi asked her.

"I would guess tomorrow Kaka-sensei" she replied.

"Okay, then we stay here one more night before we continue" he said simply before he directed his attention somewhere else.

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Sakura walked over to Rin.

"I heard that it was you who saved me, thanks" She said with a smile to the other girl. Rin looked over at her.

"Of course, you are my friend and it is my duty as a Kizume" she said to her with a smile. Sakura just smiled back at her.

"By the way Rin, I was wondering something" Sakura then said sounding slightly more serious.

"What?" Rin looked at the other girl questioningly.

"Your Kekkei-genkei, when you use it. Can you like…. Feel you own chakra paths?" Sakura asked her. Rin looked as if she thought it over for a while.

"I guess you can explain it that way yeah" she said after a while. Sakura nodded a bit.

"Why do you ask?" Rin then wondered.

"How about others' chakra paths?" Sakura then asked ignoring Rin's question.

"Other people's chakra paths? No.. Can't feel them any extra because of my Kekkei-genkei" Rin then said.

"Okay" Sakura said as she nodded.

"Why do you wonder about that?" Rin then asked her again.

"Well, I've been feeling kind of weird since I woke up. Suddenly I can feel everybody's chakra paths extremely well. So well that I can even feel everybody's tenketsus. And I don't even try to feel your chakra" Sakura said as she looked up to Rin. The red haired girl looked at her shocked.

"You mean you think that somehow your Kekkei-genkei has awoken?" she asked her.

"Mm" Sakura said as she nodded.

"I think it has to do with you channeling your chakra in to me" Sakura then explained.

"I thought that since it had to be awoken by you, and then it should be something similar to your since your clan has its roots in my clan" Sakura then continued.

"Oh, well that's smart. Don't think I would've been able to think of that" Rin then said.

"Well lucky one of us got a brain then" Sakura said in a teasing tone.

"Yeah, maybe so" Rin said as she laughed a little bit.

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Naruto looked over at the girls' tent. Hinata had just entered it and he knew that she was alone in there since he could see Rin and Sakura standing talking to each other. He walked over to the tent.

"Hinata-chan" he said through the tent fabric.

"Naruto-kun?" she asked him as she popped her head out of the tent with a shocked expression on her face. Naruto laughed a little bit at her funny expression.

"Maybe I could come in?" he then asked her suggestively.

"Eh, yeah of course" she said after a while. She then withdrew her head in to the tent once again. He stepped in to the tent after her head. She was standing over at her bag seemingly looking through it.

"What are you doing?" Naruto asked her. She looked up from the bag still holding it.

"Oh, nothing special. Just rearranging my stuff for tomorrow. This way of packing didn't really work, noticed that today" she explained before she quickly looked down into her bag once more before she put it down and directed her full attention towards the blond boy.

"So, what did you want Naruto-kun?" she asked him then.

"Well, actually I was wondering something" Naruto said as he scratched the back of his neck awkwardly. He seemed slightly embarrassed by something.

"Okaay, what?" she asked him. He looked down at the ground still scratching the back of his neck when he started talking.

"Ehm, well I was wondering, if you might want to…. To go out with me sometime" he asked her as he looked up at her still not removing his hand from the back of his head. She looked at him shocked as she gasped. He quickly started trying to explain without breathing.

"I would understand it if you didn't want to of course I just thought that maybe you wanted and in that case I would want to too but if you don't want to you don't have to of course, but I do want you to wa-"

He was interrupted by Hinata's fingers on his mouth.

"I would love to go out with you when we get back Naruto-kun" she said with a smile. After she had said it she got stuck in that position with her hand at his mouth. Their eyes had locked once again. She was standing there looking into his beautiful blue eyes for what felt like forever until she felt how her arm fell from its position.

"Naruto" they then could hear Rin call out before their faces even could start to inch closer. Their heads snapped away from each other and turned towards the opening of the tent.

"I guess I should go out there" Naruto said plainly after a while.

"Yeah, maybe so" Hinata answered in the same tone.

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Rin had a smirk on her face when she saw Naruto coming out of the girls' tent. She knew that it had only been him and Hinata in there. So she had hesitated somewhat before she decided that she shouldn't wait with telling him. Besides, she loved messing with him. He walked over to her looking somewhat irritated.

"What do you want?" he asked her sounding as irritated as he looked.

"I need to talk to you about something" she said.

"I kind of understood that. Now what did you want?" Naruto said still sounding as irritated.

"Not here" was Rin's only reply before she turned around and started walking towards the forest. Naruto got a little startled by her serious tone but quickly went after her.

As soon as they were out of hearing range from the others Rin turned around.

"It's about Sakura-san"

"Okay, what is it about Sakura-chan?" Naruto asked her.

"She believes that I might have awoken her Kekkei-genkei yesterday when I pumped some of my chakra into her" Rin started to explain.

"Okay, and why did I have to know that here in the forest?" Naruto asked before she could continue.

"I'm coming to that part so just shut up" Rin said annoyed. She sighed deeply before she continued.

"She can feel everybody's chakra signal extremely well. She can even feel everybody's tenketsus. That is just how good I can feel my own chakra when I use my Kekkei-genkei" she said. Naruto got the urge to once again ask her why she told him that here in the forest. He kept quiet however, he really didn't feel like getting beaten by her right now.

"If she feels everybody's chakra the way I can feel my own it should mean that she can also feel the Hachibi and the Kyuubi" Naruto's eyes widened at the shock.

"She knows?" he then asked her sounding frightened.

"No, that's the thing. I can't feel the Hachibi's chakra that way until I use it. I can only feel some kind of hole where an enormous amount of chakra can be kept. But I can't feel any chakra there. She should feel it the same way" Rin then explained.

"So she should feel some kind of hole that contains extremely much chakra in both you and me? But she can't be sure that there actually is chakra in the hole?" Naruto then asked her so he was sure he got it right.

"Hai" Rin said as she nodded.

"Oh shit, what should we do?" Naruto then asked her.

"I don't know" was all Rin replied.

"Maybe we should just tell her or something?" Naruto then said. Rin looked up shocked at him.

"Are you sure? What I know you kept it a secret for reason" Rin said.

"Yeah I know" Naruto said as he looked away from her gaze.

"But, I don't think that she will have that much problem with it. I do see her as my sister after all. Besides, if she will be able to know it if we use their chakra I don't see why we shouldn't let her know from us instead of her finding out the other way" he then said as he once again looked up at her.

"Yeah, you're probably right" she said after a while.

"But I think we should wait until we get back home" she then added. He just nodded as a reply.

**A/N: So Sakura's Kekkei-genkei are now awoken... It's alive xD**

**You are to learn more details about it later, I assure you! **

**Until next time have it good!**


	18. Home again

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto**

**A/N: So, next chapter here now. Happy Valentine's Day!**

Chapter 18: Home again

After another two days of traveling they finally reached their home. When they could see the gates all off them breathed out a sigh of relief. Finally they were home from this mission. It had been so much harder then they thought it would have been. There had been so much emotional disturbance for many of them. They felt how they started to relax more and more the closer they got to the gates. They hadn't realized until then that they had been tensed.

When they reached the gates they greeted Kotetsu and Izumo. They got happy replies from the two gate guards before they continued on to the Hokage tower.

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Tsunade sat with her head in her hands with her elbows resting against her desk. Her glass of sake was as always standing there beside her in reach. She so didn't feel like working. She felt like falling asleep then and there. Just to let her head fall from her hand down to the desk and fall asleep atop of all the papers. She had done it so many times that it shouldn't hurt if she did it once more, right?

Just as she let her head fall down to the desk the door opened. Her head popped up quickly.

"I didn't fall asleep" she said hurriedly as she looked around confused. Standing there watching her was team Kakashi and team Kurenai.

"Of course you didn't fall asleep Tsunade-sama" Kakashi said with a smirk. Sakura sighed at her shishou. Tsunade then realized which persons it was that were standing there in her office.

"It's you, did the mission go well?" she then asked them ignoring Kakashi's little comment.

"we succeed with the mission with only minor problem Tsunade-sama" Kurenai answered her.

"Minor problem?" Tsunade asked them as she raised an questioningly eyebrow.

"Well, apparently three sound shinobis had some kind of mission at the same camp complicating our mission" Kakashi explained.

"Sound shinobi?" Tsunade asked as her eyes widened to a shocked expression.

Kakashi just nodded at her with a serious face.

"Do you know what their mission there was?" Tsunade then asked them as she regained her senses.

"Not entirely, they were there to get the Daiymo's adopted son. We have our suspicions of why but we don't know" Kakashi answered. Tsunade sighed at the fact that they didn't know what her old team-mate would want with the Daiymo's son.

"Fortunately we didn't come back entirely empty handed" Kakashi then said as he waved forward Rin. Now Tsunade noticed the black haired man hanging over the girl's shoulder. Rin stepped forward and put down the man on the ground without much concern for his safety it seemed.

"Ow, did you really have to do it so rough?" he asked her as he landed on the ground.

"Who is this?" Tsunade asked them.

"This is Domori Hara of he hidden village of sound" Kakashi said introducing the man very correctly for him being a prisoner.

"So, you managed to take a prisoner from the three" Tsunade said as she stood up behind her desk to be able to see Hara more properly.

"Hai" Kakashi just said as a reply.

"Have you interrogated him yet?" Tsunade asked as she once again sat down and directed her gaze back to Kakashi.

"We tried to but couldn't get anything out of him. It seemed as if he doesn't know of Ibiki-san" Kakashi said as he scratched the back of his neck.

"He haven't heard of Ibiki-san? Well I guess then we just have to introduce them don't we?" she said as she grew a smirk at the ending. Hara felt how he started to sweat. He really didn't know who this Ibiki person was but however it was Hara didn't like the sound of him.

"Okay, take him to the interrogation office. Then leave a written report on the missions tomorrow. Tsunade said.

"Kurenai-san, could you please do both of them or at least make sure that he does a good job if he take one of the reports" Tsunade then added.

"Hai, Tsunade-sama" Kurenai said with a smile understanding the woman's worry.

"Hey, my reports aren't that bad are they?" Kakashi said sounding irritated.

"No, no of course not Kakashi-san" Tsunade said as she waved her hand in front of her. Kakashi felt how his head started to hang slightly, they really had to be bad for her to say it like that.

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When the others started to leave her office Tsunade looked down at the papers in front of her sighing. She reached over towards her glass with sake and put it to her mouth. She lifted har gaze from the table as she started to tip back her head to drink the liquid. She did however stop in the middle of the motion. Still standing in the room was Sakura and Rin.

"Shishou, I have something I need to talk to you about" Sakura said. Tsunade gulped down the entire content of the glass. She closed her eyes as she put the glass down on the desk again and shuddered a little bit when she felt the alcohol go down her throat. She then opened her eyes and once more looked at the two teen age girls standing there looking at her.

"Okay Sakura, what about?" the blond woman then asked the pink haired girl.

"I think that Rin might have awoken my Kekkei-genkei" Sakura answered. Tsunade looked at her shocked and confused.

"What do you mean?" she asked her after a while.

"Well, about two days ago I got an extreme chakra-loss and needed somebody to pump chakra in to me. Rin was the one to do this. When I woke up later I could feel everybody's chakra signals without trying" she explained.

"Okay, so you think a part of your kekkei-genkei is to feel people's chakra signal without trying?" Tsuande then asked her.

"Yes. Actually I can feel the signals so good as to where I can even feel everybody's tenketsus. I asked Rin-chan about it and apparently that's how good she can feel her own chakra paths when she uses her kekkei-genkei" Sakura then explained. Tsunade leaned backward in her chair as she nodded.

"Okay, that sounds interesting" she replied.

"Yeah, well since we don't know much more of it I was thinking that maybe you would be able to run some test shishou" Sakura then said. Tsunade nodded at this.

"Yeah I could do that. One little question though why did you get an extreme chakra loss two days ago?" Tsunade asked.

"Well, we came across Hara's team mates a second time. One of them said something and I threw a punch at the ground making the ground collapse. This took much chakra and we had to start running away from the place then" Sakura explained.

"I see" was all Tsunade replied at this. She then stood up.

"Well, let's go to the hospital and do some test on the two of you" she said as she started to round the desk.

"The two of us" Rin then asked her sounding slightly terrified. Tsunade stopped and looked a little shocked at the girl.

"Well I need to take test on you too so I know how your kekkei-genkei works" the woman explained.

"Okay" Rin replied sounding slightly forced before the three of them left the room and walked of towards the hospital.

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In another part of the building Kakashi and Kurenai were on their way towards the interrogation office with Hara.

Hara's thoughts started to wonder of to Amane and Sakamoto. He wondered exactly what had gone wrong in their mission. Why on earth did he have to end up here? He missed his team mates. He missed the nice times around the fire. He missed the missions together. He missed Amane's blank mask. He missed the quiet and strict Sakamoto. He missed Amane screaming at him for calling her chan. He missed Amane hitting him for saying something he didn't like. He missed Sakamoto squelch him for saying something stupid. He missed the mission briefings with that scary four eyed, white haired man. He missed that scary place they got the mission briefings at, all those medical equipment and the lack of light in the room. He missed it all. Then he realized what he was missing. The things he was presumably missing were the things that he wanted to get rid of when he still had them. There weren't any nice times around the fire to miss. What was it about the missions he should miss? Why on earth would he miss Amane's scary blank mask? Why would he miss Sakamoto because he was quiet and strict? Hara was like a child at mind, he liked sound and fun. Had he gone crazy by fear or something? By fear for what? For this Ibiki person who he didn't know?

These least say confusing thoughts were what went through Hara's head as he was seated in a chair in the middle of a big room with no furniture besides the one chair he was occupying. The wall in front of him held one door, the walls beside him held none. The wall behind him held one, which he didn't see since he was turned from it.

Just as he thought once more about Kabuto, the man who gave them their mission briefings, he heard a door open behind him. He heard steps across the floor. He could feel the presence of somebody standing right behind him when the sound stopped. He felt how he tensed and suddenly sat with a very straight back. Even though his brain tried to tell his muscles to turn his head he didn't. The muscles in his neck seemed to have tensed up too much for him to do such a thing.

"Why so tense Domori Hara?" he could hear the person behind him say. The voice sounded intimidating. It made him come out of the shock and suddenly his tense muscles managed to turn his head around. Behind him a man with a long black leather coat stood. On his head was a black bandana which held the mark of Konoha. Across his face two long scars were plastered. It was Konoha's own interrogation expert Morino Ibiki.

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As Morino entered the room he was met with the backside of a black head. He saw he person sitting in the chair tense up palpably as he entered. He smirked a little bit to himself. If the person already was that frightened then this shouldn't take too long.

"Why so tense Domori Hara?" Ibiki asked him. He just loved messing with people's mind. The man in the chair turned his head and looked at him with fear in his eyes for a few seconds until his expression changed and turned into a big grin.

"Hello, you must be Ibiki-chan right?" he asked him happily sounding like a little child.

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Rin felt the needle go in to her arm. She fought desperately against the muscles that tried to make her look at it. That would most defiantly no be smart. She had always had a hard time with hospitals, needles and stuff. It was quite strange since she was a shinobi. That meant that she most defiantly had to deal with blood, both her own and others'. Still yet she felt nauseas when in a hospital. Then every time she got this strange urge to look at the needle. It was probably her shinobi part that was trained to always wanting to know in what shape her body was in. If she for some reason wouldn't be able to fight that urge when in a hospital she most defiantly would throw up.

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Sakura noticed how the other girl seemed to close her eyes and look away from the needle in an almost desperate way. If she hadn't understood from that then the way Rin swallowed, the little sweat on her eyebrow or the slightly green color her face had gotten were dead giveaways. Sakura felt how she grew a smirk. She put her face close to Rin's. Her eyes were in perfect level with Rin's closed ones.

"So, might we be afraid of needles?" she said with a taunting voice. Rin's eyes snapped opened with shock.

"What are you talking about?" the red haired girl asked her sounding slightly pressed.

"Well if I didn't know better I would be very convinced that you in fact are afraid of needles" Sakura said in the same tone.

"Why would you thing something like that?" Rin asked the other girl.

"Oh, I don't know. Maybe because you refuse to look at the needle, sweat, look like you are on the verge of panic and then there's the fact that your face is green" Rin looked at the girl, she so wished she could say something that would make the girl re-think. Then she realized that there was absolutely nothing she could say.

"If you so much as think about telling the Teinousha I swear you are going to regret it!" She then decided to say instead. Sakura stood up now and leaned backwards a little bit.

"Oh, so you don't want Naruto to know do you? What do I get for not telling him?" She asked her as she looked at her nails. Rin's eyes widened noticeably.

"You wouldn't" she then said as her eyes turned into slits trying to pierce her friend.

"I wouldn't?" Sakura answered her as she looked away from her nails.

"You would?" Rin then asked her sounding slightly terrified now. Sakura just smirked now, she didn't know what but it truly was something messing with somebody's head.

"She wouldn't don't worry" Tsunade then said drawing both of their attention. She was standing with her back against them doing something with their blood it seemed. She turned around after a few seconds leaning against the table with her hand on the surface of it. She looked at Rin as she spoke again.

"One time Shizune did this thing, I don't remember what anymore, that she didn't want me knowing about. Sakura found out and blackmailed just like she doing to you know. Shizune refused to do anything since she thought that it was such a small thing that it didn't matter too much if I knew. Sakura never told me, Shizune did" Tsunade grew a smirk at the ending as she looked at her apprentice. Sakura sighed, did she really have to tell Rin that? The red haired girl looked over at Sakura.

"You mean you didn't exploit her?" she asked her. Sakura just shook her head.

"I get too bad of a conscience" she said.

"And here you pretended that you would take advantage of my phobia?" she then asked her sounding slightly hurt.

"It's a phobia even?" Sakura almost screamed out of shock as she whipped her head around towards Rin. Then an evil smile grew across her face. Rin looked slightly shocked and scared at Sakura. Then she remembered.

"Well, yes. Not that it matter you won't tell anybody anyway" she said.

"Oh that she will tell everybody unless she gets something for keeping quiet" Tsunade said as she once again turned around and directed her attention on whatever there was on the table. Rin looked at Tsunade's back with a somewhat terrified look. She then turned her head towards Sakura that about now smirked ridiculously much. Rin looked at her questioningly and scared. Sakura just nodded her smirking face to answer Rin's unsaid question. Rin then closed her eyes and sighed. When she opened them again the fear was nowhere to be seen.

"As I said earlier. If you so much as think about telling the Teinousha you will regret it gravely" she then said as she looked Sakura square in the eyes. Sakura just raised a pink eyebrow at the other girl.

"I will Kizume?" she then asked her. Rin stared at her shocked getting exactly what the pink haired girl meant.

"Screw you Haruno-sama" she then said as she then looked down in defeat.

"You win" she then said.

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Who was this person anyway? Rather what was it? Ibiki sighed as he went out of the interrogation room. The interrogation with Hara had gone anything but as planned. The man had continued calling him Ibiki-chan and didn't even seem to hear the questions Ibiki asked him. He seemed very much like a little child. Or even more, like a little girl. Right now all the interrogation-expert wanted to do was to get home and sleep. He didn't even feel like eating, he was too exhausted to do such a thing. He felt as if he could fall asleep then and there. Still yet he had to force him self to go all the way to his apartment and once there he had to force himself to his bed. He so didn't look forward until tomorrow!

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Hara smiled to himself as he sat there in his cell. The interrogation of him had gone really well. He had been nervous before Ibiki entered, yes, but when he did enter and he saw how macho the other man was he became quite confident. Apparently Ibiki was so good that he thought of him self as good. Therefore he became macho, as all men that knew they were good at something. Hara had always thought that the macho ones were the ones easiest to break. He hadn't really been interrogated for real many times before, but it hadn't taken too many times of the interrogation lessons for him to learn. Just as with the kids he once again used his natural talent for being like a child at mind. This Ibiki person had almost broke as soon as he said Ibiki-chan the first time. Here hadn't let the poor man say a whole sentence after that. Hara thought that he never had that much fun. Just for the hell of it he even messed with the poor guys that had to take him to his cell. They almost gave up halfway there, wanting to just let go of him and walk away. Hara laughed a little bit as he lay down on his simple prison bed, he did after all have nothing better to do right now.

**A/N: Hope you liked that one. I was first planning on making Hara a wreck during the interrogation. Then this happened instead, I just felt that it would for some reason be typical for Hara do be able to do that to Ibiki. Talk about me doing a character that I can't decide over xD**

**Guess I was lucky with Hara xD**


	19. To miss Hara

**A/N: So, sorry for the late update, I had a break for a week and just before that I accidentally broke my school computer. We shall not go in to any details in how. That is not really necessarily, if I can decide. Which I can :D **

**Right now I'm borrowing my friend's computer, she is just so nice:D**

Chapter 19: To miss Hara

Hinata was standing in a fighting stance panting heavily. She was as usual training against Neji in the Hyuuga dojo. She had started to do this often since the trial, mostly because her father wished so. He thought it was the perfect way to prove to them that she was determined and would be a good heiress for the clan.

She just barely dodged one of his punches. It was directed towards her stomach and if she hadn't dodged the fight would have been over. Even if they didn't use real Jyuuken punches they thought of them as such. So if they got hit they had to think of the punch as a Jyuuken fist, therefore a punch towards the stomach would make her lose since a real one could just as well be fatal.

She then threw one of her fists towards him and made him back up. She now saw an opportunity and continued making him back up. Never before had she been able to make him back up this much. It made her feel good but she still made sure not to lose her concentration. It shouldn't take too much longer before he would be backed up against the wall she thought. Then he did something she wasn't prepared for. Just as she threw a punch at his torso instead of continue on backing as she expected he did a weird spin to the side. At the same time he took a grip on her right shoulder. This made him spin up and stop just behind her so she stood with her back pressed up against him. Then she felt his open hand make contact with her back and she knew she had lost. His hand was in level with her heart and if it had been a real Jyuuken fist she would have been dead by now.

They heard somebody clap their hands in a slow beat. When they looked over there they saw Hiashi standing there watching them.

"You're getting better Hinata" he said with a smile as he started to walk over to them.

"Thank you otou-sama" Hinata said as she and Neji bowed at Hiashi.

"That was a good maneuver too Neji" he then said as he turned from his daughter to his nephew.

"Thank you Hiashi-sama" Neji said as he once again bowed.

"Otou-sama I was wondering on what you were planning to do with Hamano-kun" Hinata then asked her father. Hiashi once again looked over at her. He sighed once as he looked as if he was thinking.

"I'm not positively sure yet. I think that I first of all need to go there and meet the boy and his father" he replied to her question. She nodded a little bit looking somewhat distant.

"When do you think you are going then otou-sama?" she asked him after a while.

"I haven't decided that yet. I need to contact the Daiymo of Bird country first" he answered.

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Kakashi sighed. He really hated to do mission reports, maybe Tsunade was right about them being no good. It wouldn't really surprise him, he didn't put very much effort into them. He would probably ask Kurenai at least to help him with his, if he wouldn't ask her to do all of it. He had barely started on it before he decided to go out instead. He made his way down the many roads of Konoha to an apartment complex close to the academy. He smiled to himself as he saw the building. He went inside it, up the stairs and to the door without really thinking. He had gone there so many times that he didn't have to anymore. He knocked on the door before he put his elbow to the wall and leaned on it. He heard somebody walking up to the door on the other side of it and unlocking it. The door opened silently to reveal a brown haired man on the other side of it. His hair was up in a pony tail making his hair look slightly pine apple like and he had a scar over his nose. The man's face lightened up fast when he saw Kakashi standing there outside his home.

"Yo" Kakashi greeted him as he leaned in and kissed the other man.

"God I missed doing that Iruka" was all he said before he let himself in to the apartment closing the door behind him.

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Kotetsu and Izumo made their way down the aisle. They were going to Hara's cell to get him for the continuation of his interrogation. The earlier day they had been the one that had to leave him in his cell. It had not been an experience of pleasure for any one of them exactly.

They soon reached Hara's cell. The occupant of it was lying on his bed with his eyes closed seemingly at sleep. As Kotetsu took up the keys and put them in the door's keyhole however his eyes snapped opened and he looked at them.

"Kotetsu-chan Izumo-chan" he said to them with a large smile. When they entered his cell he practically jumped of his bed, trying to hug them. For nothing they tried to dodge him. Soon he was hugging both of them at he same time.

"I knew I would get to see you two again soon" he then said happily as he was embracing them. They madly tried to get him of off them. After a while they both managed to punch him away keeping their out-stretched arms between him and them.

"We are taking your to your second day of interrogation Domori-san" Izumo said.

"Oh don't call me that Izumo-chan" Hara said with a frown.

"Now, please come with us Domori-san" Kotetsu said ignoring Hara's comment.

"I said don't call me that" Hara said to them with the same frown. Then his face brightened up suddenly.

"Is Ibiki-chan going to interrogate me today too?" he asked them.

"We don't know whether or not Morino-san will take care of your interrogation today" was all Izumo said before the three of them left Hara's cell.

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A white haired man was walking down one of the streets of Konoha. He was wearing green and red clothes, carrying a big scroll on his back. As Jiraiya was walking there he spotted Naruto and Rin. He called out to them getting their attention. The two teenagers stopped to wait for him. As he walked to them however he spotted a very intriguingly looking young woman. His eyes soon locked on her temptingly swaying hips and before he knew it he walked into something.

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Naruto and Rin heard somebody call out for them and when they looked up they saw their teacher Jiraiya. It didn't take long before they saw him starting to check somebody out as he headed towards them. Naruto sighed at the older man, shaking his head. Rin however smirked as she started to snicker. Naruto looked at her a little surprised and confused when he heard her. She looked at her with a meaningful look before she once again directed her gaze towards Jiraiya, whose attention by now was entirely directed towards the woman's hips. Naruto had no idea what the red head was planning but it was something mean. Rin stretched her hand out towards Jiraiya and soon it started to glow blue from her chakra. The chakra started to form a big wall that she then pushed forward, towards the walking sannin. By now Naruto had understood what Rin was planning to do. He started to snicker as well.

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When Jiraiya looked up from the ground he was met with the image of Rin and Naruto standing doubled laughing their asses of at his expense. He grunted as he got up from the ground and walked over to them.

"Was that your doing Rin?" he asked the girl sternly.

"Hai, I'm sorry Jiraiya-sensei but I just couldn't help it" she said still laughing.

"That was hilarious Rin-chan" Naruto said between laughs. Jiraiya sighed at the two of them.

"Just stop it you two, you should pay your respect to elders and especially to your teachers" the man tried without any success.

"And here I was planning on training you some today, having a new technique for Rin and everything" he then said as he nonchalantly started to turn around. Naruto's and Rin's heads snapped up looking shocked.

"Gomenasai Jiraiya-sama" Rin said as she jumped up in front of him and bowed. Jiraiya just smiled as he then turned back his head towards Naruto. The blond boy looked at the man without any interest in his gaze and was just to say that he didn't care when Rin growled at him low. He looked over at her with something close to fear in his eyes. This time he wouldn't start to laugh like in the hostel, this time he didn't need to save her ass and this time she meant her unsaid threat that she made with the sound. She looked angrily back at him, telling him what to do with her look. He gulped once before again turning his gaze to Jiraiya.

"Gomen" he said his voice on the verge of falsetto. Jiraiya's smile grew in to a smirk before he nodded his head mockingly. He then turned around towards the training grounds starting to walk without another word to the two teenagers.

"So what's this new technique you are going to teach me Jiraiya-sensei?" Rin asked as she walked behind him.

"Well, I will only teach you the basics of it and how you accomplish it. You will then have to train it with the help of Naruto" Jiraiya explained to her.

"Okay, but that doesn't answer my question Jiraiya-sensei" the girl then said.

"I have one question before you get your answer" Jiraiya said as he turned around and looked at both of them.

"Have you done any so called 'real training'" he asked them obviously not a pleased with the name of the special training. Naruto frowned at the memory at their last attempt at the 'real training'. Rin even went as far as to wince at the memory. Jiraiya sighed and shook his head at their expression.

"From your expressions I'm guessing you did but it went as it always does" he said.

"_Please, do you have to tell him how it went? Can't we just blame our expressions on that we forgot to do any training or something?" _Naruto could hear Rin say to him in his thoughts. He looked over at her with a frown. She met his gaze and frowned back at him still yet managing to look pleading. This didn't go unnoticed to Jiraiya.

"Hey you two, no communicating through your thoughts just because you can! You're making me feel left out" he told them. They frowned as they looked away.

"I'm going to take that reaction as a sign that you were in fact communicating through your thoughts. And then I take the fact that you were communicating like that as a sign that you have done some training and that it went as it always does" he then said to them sounding slightly disappointed at them.

"Yeah, you're right" Rin then said without meeting his gaze. Jiraiya sighed.

"Well, you have to start doing it more. Because this technique I'm about to learn you Rin takes a lot of chakra and you need to be able to make sure that you don't loose control despite that" He then said.

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Hara sat there in the middle of the room waiting for Ibiki to come in. The whole situation had almost proved too easy for him to handle. He had such a great time messing with their minds that he almost overdid it only for the fun of it. He had to hold back constantly.

He heard how the door behind him opened and he turned his head with the usual smile plastered across his face. It soon changed in to a shocked expression. Instead of Ibiki standing there in the door a woman stood there. She had purple hair and dark eyes. She was wearing a black net shirt and a beige trench coat. She had somewhat of an evil smile grazing her lips.

"Who are you?" he asked her impolitely in his shock.

"Mitarashi Anko" she said as she pointed at herself with her left thumb. Not seeming to care about his impoliteness.

"I'm the one who is here to interrogate you today" she then added before she walked in to the room towards him.

"Where's Ibiki-chan? He isn't sick now is he?" Hara asked her sounding sincerely worried.

"No, Morino-san isn't sick. He just thought that I might be able to do a better job with you" she said to him as she reached him and his chair.

"Okay, as long as he is fine" Hara smiled up at her.

"So, Anko-cha-" he started only to get interrupted by her hand hitting the back of his head hard.

"Ow, what was that for?" he said as he reached up and rubbed the back of his head.

"Don't call me chan" she almost growled to him. He gulped as he saw the look in her eyes. This woman was scaringly similar to Amane, and that meant that she was dangerous. Today wouldn't go even half as good as yesterday for our little sound shinobi.

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The brown haired woman looked at the wall in front of her. She sat outside her tent some hundred meters away from it. She could see a small piece of the red and white wall despite the surrounding trees. This truly was a village hidden in leaves. She didn't know why but ever since she and her team mate had arrived here she had for some reason just sat there staring at the wall. She heard him walk out of the tent. He stopped standing besides her looking down at her. She didn't return his gaze but continued staring at the wall as if expecting it to break if she did it long enough. Even though she didn't look at him she knew that he carried that uncharacteristic look of worry. For some reason it felt wrong to see that look on the red haired man's face.

"It almost seems as if you miss him despite everything" he then said to her. She looked up at him shocked, it hadn't sounded as if he was worrying over her. It sounded more like he was smirking. A matter of fact he was. She soon regained her senses and snorted as she returned her gaze towards the wall again.

"Who would miss that bloke?" she then asked him. He chuckled to himself as he turned around and started walking off in to the forest.

"I never thought that I would get to see the day when Mikaku Amane misses Domori Hara" she heard him say to himself, she snorted again.

**A/N: Haha, Amane misses Hara xD I just had to put something like that in.**

**So, just to be somewhat evil I think I should throw in some kind of spoiler…**

**The next chapter is named: The date! xD**

**Yeah, and if you guys don't review this chapter either I think I'm gonna get depressed! **


	20. The date

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto**

**A/N: So, here's the date… I'm currently at my dad's place and what I know my school computer might still be broken. If I'm lucky I might find it repaired when I get to school tomorrow but I doubt it…**

Chapter 20: The date

Tsunade sat behind her desk with her head in her head and elbows on the table as usual. The glass of sake stood there faithfully besides her. She sighed as she thought the situation over. The day before today team eight and team Kakashi had come home with one hostage, claiming that the man's team members were dead. Now after two days of interrogation the man wasn't in his cell anymore. There was no visible sign of him breaking out and no visible sound of anybody breaking in. There was however said that at some point an ANBU had come in saying she had orders to get him for more interrogation. The guards had let her take it without any questions since she was an ANBU. Afterwards neither she nor Hara had returned. He had been rescued, that was the only logical explanation. The question was just, by whom? His team mates were supposed to be dead.

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Naruto walked from his apartment and headed towards the Hyuuga compound. He and Hinata had decided to go out today and he was on his way to pick her up now. Creative as he was he had decided to take her to Ichiraku's. He knew it wasn't exactly anything new, but he didn't care that much. He was mainly just happy to be spending time with Hinata that nobody would interrupt, hopefully.

He had counted on having to ask somebody to get Hinata, but when he rounded the corner that lead him to the street which held the Hyuuga household he saw her standing outside of the compound. She was standing there leaning against the wall not looking at him.

"Oi, Hinata-chan" he called out as he waved his hand. Her head snapped up at him and she waved back smiling.

"H-hello N-naruto-kun" she said a little nervous as he walked up to her. As he got close to her he extended his arms silently asking her for a hug. She didn't really know what to do. Fortunate for her he really wasn't asking. He was more like planning to hug her, and so he did. Now when the decision wasn't hers anymore she hugged him back without thinking about it.

"So should we get going?" he asked her when he pulled back.

O-okay, w-where to?" she asked him still stuttering a little bit out of the nervousness.

"Ichiraku's… I hope that's okay?" he said sounding questioningly at the ending.

"Y-yeah of course" she said with a smile as they started to walk from her home.

"Well, that's somewhat of a relief to hear" he said as he smiled back at her.

"Otherwise I would have had to think about something else and I'm not that good about this kind of stuff" he explained as he scratched the back of his neck.

They didn't say much else as they made their way to Ichiraku's. There was only one customer there at the moment. A man sitting at the far left of the counter. He didn't pay any attention to them and they didn't pay him any either. Ayame was standing behind the corner with her back turned towards them.

"Oi, Ayame-nee-chan" Naruto said as he and Hinata walked up to the counter. Ayame turned around with a smile wiping her hands on a cloth as they took their seats.

"Hello Naruto-kun" she said to him. She then saw Hinata sitting down next to their favorite customer.

"So, what do you and the lovely young lady want?" she asked him with a little wink. Hinata blushed at what Ayame so obviously meant. Naruto as oblivious as always didn't seem to get the under meaning of what Ayame was saying however.

"I would like a pork ramen" he said to Ayame then he turned to the girl besides him.

"How about you Hinata-chan?" he asked her.

"Uhm, I would like a miso ramen please" Hinata said still a little embarrassed from Ayame's comment.

"One pork and one Miso it is" Ayame said as she once again turned around to make their orders.

"Hey, Ayame-neechan, where's old man Teuchi?" Naruto asked her back.

"Otou-san is out buying supplies for the restaurant" she answered without turning around.

"Okay" was Naruto's only reply as he turned back from Ayame's back to Hinata. At first they just sat there watching each other not knowing what to say. Hinata still hadn't recovered from Ayame while Naruto just didn't know what to say. He sat there thinking of all kinds of things to say. Just that none of them seemed any good. It was mostly things like, 'How's your day been' and other similarities. Even though he might not have been the smartest one in the bunch he didn't feel like that was the right thing to say. Then he thought about their latest mission, maybe there was something to say about that.

"So, do you know what will happen to that Hamano kid?" he asked after a while of thinking.

"No, Otou-sama first needs to go to Bird country and meet Hamano-kun and Daiymo-sama. Then he will decide" she answered.

"Oh, okay" Naruto said not knowing what to say to continue the conversation. Luckily for him Ayame had finished their food now.

"Here you go. One pork ramen and one miso" she said as she put them down in front of them.

"Thanks Ayame-neechan" Naruto said as he reached for his chopsticks.

"Thank you" Hinata smiled at Ayame as her bowl was put in front of her.

"Itadakimasu" Naruto said eagerly as he pulled apart his chopsticks. Hinata copied him just not so inhumanly eager.

"I don't really get it, but why is it so hard to decide what will happen with Hamano?" Naruto asked in between to huge bites.

"Well, he's too old for the caged bird mark. So that's not an option. He probably don't want to move from his family to live here with some strangers. So that is most surely not an option either" she explained before she took her first bite. Not even half as small as Naruto's

"But why can't he just live on there like he did before?" he asked her confused, he had even stopped eating at the moment, putting his hand with the chopsticks on the table. Hinata took a moment to swallow her bite before she answered.

"Well, you see where that brought us" she said. Naruto just looked confused at her obviously not understanding what she meant. She sighed with a smile on her lips before she continued explaining.

"You know that the caged bird mark seals up the Byakugan when one dies. Right?" she asked him. Naruto nodded at her but still looked confused as this didn't really explain what she meant.

"Well, it seals it up so that the secret of the Byakugan won't leak out. So there has always only been one family whose Byakugan could help somebody figure out the secret of it. And that family is clearly highly guarded amongst the rest of the clan. And we make sure that they are the strongest ones since they are the ones who rule the clan" she stopped to see if he was still with her. He once again nodded.

"Now here's still little kid that doesn't know how to fight in any way. Far away from the rest of the clan or anybody that can actually guard him as properly as could be needed. And he doesn't have anything that makes sure that his Byakugan seals up when he dies. He's the perfect victim for anybody who wants to know about the secret of the Byakugan" she said before she took another bite. Now understanding dawned upon Naruto.

"Now I get it" he said as he nodded his head. He then happily took another huge bite from his meal. Hinata just smiled as she also took another bite.

After that the conversation came more easy. Hinata seemed to relax more afterwards and that made it easier for Naruto to talk also. It appeared as if talking was what she needed to get over her quietness and also her embarrassment after Ayame's comment. Apparently she had a hard time letting that go. They talked and laughed most of the time. Mostly it was Naruto telling stories from his training with Jiraiya and Rin. Hinata mostly just sat there laughing and listening to Naruto's stories. After a while she even grew confident enough to tell him about the time when Kiba first asked Sakura out. Kiba had talked to Hinata about it first asking for pointers since she was a girl. Apparently he had been as nervous as one can be even being on the brink of fainting according to Hinata.

"He was so pale that I even felt sorry for him. And it's not often I feel sorry for him" she finished the story as Naruto sat there beside her laughing.

"I never thought I would hear about the day that Kiba almost fainted" he said as he wiped away a tear of laughter.

"I'm sorry Naruto-kun but we need to close now" Ayame came and interrupted them. Naruto looked at her slightly startled.

"Has it been that long already Ayame-neechan?" he asked her after a while.

"Yeah it has" Ayame said as she reached over and took their since long empty bowls. Truly as Hinata looked back she saw that it had started to grow darker slightly. Since it was summer it hadn't become entirely dark just yet.

"Well in that case I guess we have to leave" Naruto said as he fished up gama-chan and put on money on the desk for both him and Hinata. She of course noticed this and felt a slight twinge of guilt, not liking to be a burden. She did however not say anything since she noticed how he did it without seeming to think about it. So she thought that he must have expected it, and it would probably not surprise her if he wanted to pay for hers as well. Being as he was.

Since they had sat at Ichiraku's for so long they decided to call it a night. So they started walking towards Hinata's home. The Hyuuga girl had felt Naruto's hand against her own the whole time. Still yet when she felt him suddenly take hers in his she gasped a little bit. As she looked over at him he was smiling back at her, he had that smile that just made her want to melt. Not that usual big grin, which she also loved, but a smaller smile.

She smiled back at him as she felt her face heat up slightly.

Suddenly something went rushing past them in an inhuman speed. Everybody jumped away and took cover. Naruto instinctively grabbed Hinata and pushed her in to an alley away from the possible danger. It didn't matter to him that they were in Konoha and there shouldn't be any true danger, or that if it was in fact a real danger Hinata would be able to take care of herself perfectly. The "danger" rushed past them as a green blur.

"We have to jump on one leg 500 times through Konoha to prove our youthfulness" could be heard as Gai rushed past.

"I'm right behind you Gai-sensei" Lee screamed after him as a second green blur rushed past them.

Hinata and Naruto started to laugh at Gai and Lee's extreme energy. If it hadn't been for those two there would have been much that they would have thought was physically impossible. Well now they knew better since both Gai and Lee had proved that it was very much possible. When their laughter died out they realized their position. Hinata was standing with her back against the wall with Naruto in front of her almost pressing her up against it. They felt their eyes lock in each others' as their heads started to move closer. Naruto could smell Hinata's sweet breath as their noses touched.

"Yo" Kiba said in his most Kakashi similar way as he popped his head around the corner. Both Naruto and Hinata froze with their heads just moments away from a kiss. Naruto turned his head towards Kiba and glared at the other boy. Kiba continued smiling with his eyes closed in a happy face.

"Hello Inuzuka Kiba" Hinata said irritated as she turned his face towards him. Kiba opened his eyes when he heard her irritated tone. He was met with Naruto and Hinata standing close together both glaring at him. Their eyes were filled with anger and he thought that he saw something similar to killer intent in Hinata's eyes. Kiba could feel his knees starting to shake under her gaze. The confident and loudmouthed Inuzuka boy suddenly became a terrified stuttering wreck under the gaze of his shy and timid team mate.

"I th-think I s-s-see Sa-sakura-chan o-over there" he said as he pointed down the street. The next second he took of faster than Gai and Lee before Naruto or Hinata could say anything.

Naruto turned his face towards Hinata again. Even though Kiba had interrupted them once the feelings easily came back. They could soon feel their faces inch closer once again. It didn't take long before they a second time could feel the other's breath on their own mouth.

"By the way" Kiba said as he once more popped his head around the corner and interrupted them for a second time. You could hear a growl from Naruto as he inhumanly fast pulled up a Kunai and threw it at Kiba. The targeted boy quickly drew back his head and darted down the road a second time.

Hinata thought that she could see Naruto's eyes turn red as he threw the kunai at Kiba. Sure she had heard about seeing red, but that didn't mean that your eyes actually turned red did it? The feeling of the moment was now lost for her. Kiba would probably interrupt them again if they stayed now that he knew that it was so easy for him to draw out such an extreme reaction. Then Naruto also scared her slightly right now. It looked almost as if he had to fight his anger even now. Not just to let it show, but almost as if he was scared it would take over him completely if he didn't.

"Come on, he'll probably come back if we stay here" she said as she reached him her hand. Naruto looked at her hand and then up at her eyes and felt the anger drain away.

"Yeah, I guess you're right" he said as he took the offered hand before they walked out of the alley and continued towards the Hyuuga compound.

As they reached the compound Naruto gave Hinata a hug. The angry glares from the Hyuuga guards however made him settle for that. Hinata smiled after him as he walked away. She was happy after the day. If she didn't count the ending of it the date had gone basically perfect. Just trust it to Kiba to ruin that kind of moment. He had done it earlier and for some reason she probably wouldn't be surprise if he managed again. She would be angry, but not surprised.

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Kiba felt bad. He didn't want to interrupt them like that. Even if he seemed smug about it he had felt somewhat bad for Hinata when he had accidentally interrupted them the first time during their mission. He had definitely been happy for them when he heard they were going out on a date and had hoped that it would turn out good. He had felt really bad when he heard that Neji had found out about it. Apparently he had confronted Hinata about it that morning. At least that was what Ino thought. Apparently Hinata had come running out of the compound on the brink of tears. Soon after an angry Neji had come and stopped outside of the house. He hadn't ran after his cousin since she already was out of sight. When he had seen Ino he had just glared at her shortly before turning around and entering the compound again. Ino had told him and Sakura during their lunch. For some reason he hadn't been able to stop thinking about it and just felt so bad for Hinata.

When he then saw the two of them walking down the same road as him only opposite direction and an angry looking Neji not far behind them he froze. He had to do something he couldn't just let Neji ruin it for them now when they looked so happy. He looked around himself looking for something. He saw Gai and Lee standing there talking eagerly about something and suddenly he got an idea. He made his way over to them.

"Hey Gai-sensei, Lee-san" he greeted them.

"Well Hello Kiba-kun" Gai said as he saw the boy.

"I was wondering Gai-sensei about how fast you could jump on one leg. Maybe you and Lee-san could show me" Kiba said to them.

"Well of course, anything to prove how youthful we are" Lee said happily.

"While we are on it why don't we make it into training Lee?" Gai asked his student sounding just as happy. Lee looked at his teacher happy and shocked.

"Let's make it 500 laps around Konoha on one leg" Gai said to his look-alike student with a grin doing the nice guy pose. Lee's eyes practically shined at this. Soon his eyes started to fill up with tears of joy.

"Do you mean that Gai-sensei?" Lee asked his teacher with amazement in his voice.

"I do Lee, I do" Gai said as his eyes also filled up with tears. Soon the two of them hugged each other as tears streamed down their faces.

"You know, I think Neji would be in need of training too. He is just down the road, why don't you take him with you?" Kiba then asked them wishing they would agree. This made Gai snap out of it and looked at Kiba with a big smile.

"You know, I think you are right Kiba-kun" he then said with a smile.

"Yosh, I get to train with Neji-kun" Lee said as he threw a hand up in the air.

"Now, let's get going Lee" Gai said before he took of on one leg down the road.

"Hai Gai-sensei" Lee replied as he took of after his teacher jumping so close to Kiba that the other boy almost fell. He looked down the road to see what happened. Naruto took a hold of Hinata and jumped out of the way in to an alley. Neji however didn't manage to get out of the way since Gai took a hold of him. Kiba smirked to himself at the succeeding of his plan. Unfortunately he saw how Neji managed to get lose and how he said something to Gai. Whatever he said it much have been some kind of excuse why he couldn't join them for afterwards Gai and Lee continued without him. Shit, that wasn't good. He had to warn Hinata and Naruto.

Kiba still shuddered at he frightening memory of Naruto and Hinata's gazes. Still yet he had to do it or it would have been Neji that interrupted them in the middle of the kiss, and that wouldn't have been pretty. Kiba sighed as he walked there towards his home. As he neared it he could see Akamaru running towards him, coming to greet him. As he saw his friend and companion he smile before he called out to the dog happily.

**A/N: I just couldn't let Kiba be that mean, it just wouldn't be any nice to him. Neji on the other hand could very well be that mean when it comes to Hinata and Naruto… :P**

**Please review!!! They are one of the highpoints (is that an actual word in English?) of my days.**


	21. Telling Hinata

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto for those of you who are too stupid to have realized that yet ….**

**A/N: So here we are practically a fortnight later, I assure you I've got a perfect legit reason for my late update... My computer in school is still, I repeat, still broken. About four weeks ago I dropped it and I had to turn it in so they could fix it… Then there's of course the peculiar problem about me not being able to upload at my home computer, only at my dad's xD**

**Now I just need to say that it doesn't help threatening me, you know who you are, since my chapters are already pre-written and I won't change them! If I did it wouldn't be the same story now would it ;)**

Chapter 21: Telling Hinata

"Good bye Kakashi-san" Iruka said as he gave the other man a quick good bye kiss.

"Good bye Iruka-san" Kakashi replied with a smile before he started to back away from the door. Even though none of them liked it he had to leave now in the middle of the night. After a few steps Kakashi turned around and started to walk towards the stairs. Iruka stood in his open door watching Kakashi walk away. When the other man rounded the corner and went down the stairs Iruka backed in to his apartment and closed the door. Kakashi made his way down the stairs as he corrected his mask. When he made it out from the building he was met with the cold night air. He breathed in the refreshing air. He then put his hands in his pockets and started to make his way to his own home. After walking a while he was met with the sight of Naruto. The blond boy rounded a corner and walked down another street than the one Kakashi was going. It didn't seem as Naruto had noticed Kakashi. The older man just shrugged his shoulders before he continued home.

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Naruto hadn't been able to sleep that night. Not that it was something unusual but this evening it seemed even harder. He just couldn't get Hinata out of his mind. The smell of her breath tickling his own lips. He thought he was going insane. It was almost as if he still could feel her face that close to his. He cursed Kiba for interrupting them both a second and a third time. Naruto did however find it somewhat weird. Kiba had after all said that he was sorry for interrupting them when they were in Suna. Then there was also that embarrassing night before they reached Suna when all of them said how they wanted Naruto and Hinata to hook up. If that was the case, then why would Kiba interrupt them a third time? Naruto just shook his head too disturbed by the memory of Hinata to be able to think about it.

He got out of his bed and headed for the door. He had to do something. The first thing that came to his mind was taking a walk, and so he did. He walked around Konoha absentmindedly not caring about where he went. After a while he came to a stop and looked up. Some way he had ended up outside of the academy. He smiled to himself as he remembered so many nostalgic memories of his pranks on Iruka-sensei. Without losing the smile he continued on walking. He saw somebody walk out of an apartment compound close to the academy but didn't really take notice of however it was. Naruto was once again lost in his thoughts about a certain Hyuuga. Suddenly he found himself outside of her home. He hadn't thought about where he went, he had just ended up there. Now when he was here however he thought back at that time on the Hokage monument with Hinata and wondered if she might want to watch the stars with him again. He smiled to himself as he started to jog towards the building.

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Hinata went out from her bathroom in to her bedroom again. She was wearing her armless nightgown that went down to her knees. As she entered the room she could feel a slight breeze from the open window. She turned towards her door to close it properly so that her back was turned towards the window. After she had closed the door she heard a loud thump from the window and turned around fast.

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As Naruto landed on Hinata's windowsill he could see the girl spin around towards him. He practically froze when their eyes met. She was wearing an armless nightgown that went down to her knees and showed of all of her curves. It had the same color as her eyes and made her pale skin seem to glow. She looked stunning when she was standing there at he door. He walked down from the windowsill without saying anything and walked over to her. He covered the room in just three strides before he stood in front of her looking down in to her eyes. He felt how his face started to inch closer to hers. When their noses touched and he could feel her breath mix with his for the third time that day he could see how her eyes drifted close. His closed too when he could feel her soft lips on his. That wonderful feeling. He could feel her arms drape around his neck and how his own circled around her waist. He pressed her closer to him cherishing the moment. Soon he trailed his tongue over her bottom lip asking for entrance, wanting to deepen the kiss. She obliged by opening her mouth letting his tongue in. When he felt his teeth graze over her bottom lip Kyuubi stepped in. Suddenly he wanted to bite down on her lip and draw blood, he wanted to taste her blood. He saw images of her dark blood slowly run down her pale skin. Images he wanted to see in reality also.

Hinata could feel how Naruto tensed just after he had deepened the kiss. He drew back from her and stepped away not looking at her. She felt confused. Had she done something wrong?

"I need to tell you something Hinata" Naruto said as he looked down on the floor with a pained expression. She didn't like the way he dropped the suffix or his tone.

"What Naruto-kun?" she asked him confused.

"Can we go somewhere else? Like maybe the Hokage monument or something" Naruto asked her still not looking at her.

"Okay, I just need to get dressed" she replied. Naruto nodded before he turned and went to the window. He jumped up on the windowsill and sat down with his back towards her and the room. Hinata quickly got dressed and walked over to him.

"I'm ready now Naruto-kun" she said to his back just wishing that he would turn towards her with his trademark grin. Instead he just nodded before he got up and jumped away without a word. She looked after him for a while before she followed him.

When she landed on top of the Hokage monument she could see him starting to sit down at the edge. She walked over to him and slowly sat down next to him careful to leave him some space since he seemed mad at her. At first they just sat there in silence. After a while tough Naruto sighed. Hinata looked over at him and saw him open his mouth as if to say something, but he just closed it again. She looked away from him once more.

"This isn't exactly easy to say" Naruto said after a while. Hinata looked back at him. Naruto turned his head up towards the stars and she thought she could see tears in the corner of his eyes. She could see him swallow nervously before he once again opened his mouth and spoke.

"You... you know about the Kyuubi, right?" he asked her.

"Yeah, the nine-tailed demon fox who attacked Konoha 15 years ago and was killed by the Yondaime" Hinata said.

"Yeah, that one" Naruto said still looking at the stars.

"You only got one little thing wrong there" he then claimed. Hinata looked at him a little confused.

"What do you mean?" she asked him.

"The Yondaime didn't kill the Kyuubi. He couldn't"

"Okay, then who did?" Hinata asked him confused about the whole thing. What did this have to do with anything?

"Nobody did. You couldn't kill the Kyuubi"

"What. But how come they say it's dead then?"

"Because the only way to defeat it was to seal it up in something" Naruto said as he looked down from the stars. Hinata didn't say anything, she just waited for him to explain.

"Or rather, someone" Naruto then said. Now Hinata thought she understood. That would explain so much about Naruto, but she didn't want to say anything about her suspicions. Because if she was wrong that would be one big insult.

"The Yondaime thought that by sealing it inside of a newborn child the Kyuubi's chakra and the baby's could mend a little bit. That would have been the only way. Otherwise the Kyuubi's chakra would hurt the person if the chakra network had already been established" Naruto explained further. Hinata didn't have any doubt right now. Why other would Naruto have wanted to tell her about this.

"So you mean.. that you..." She said a little bit uncertain not wanting to continue the sentence. Naruto nodded and looked at her for the first time since before the kiss.

"The Kyuubi is sealed inside of me" he said to her with a hurt expression. Even though Hinata had realized that moments ago the words shocked her.

"Oh" was all she said looking down from his gaze with big eyes.

Naruto saw how she looked down from his gaze just after he finally had built up the courage to meet hers. He felt as if something had stung his heart when he saw that. Even though he had prepared himself that she would reject him it still hurt like hell. He then saw how the timid girl in front of him clenched her fists in what seemed to be anger. He couldn't be sure since he didn't see her face. That hurt even more. He had expected her to be scared of him, but not angry. At least not Hinata of all. She never got angry. He turned his gaze away not wanting to see her reaction anymore.

"I would understand it if you didn't want to know of me anymore" he said to her hating the way all his hurt leaked out in to his tone.

"You mean that the reason everybody treated you that way was because of the Kyuubi was inside of you" Hinata asked him ignoring what he said.

"Yeah" Naruto replied sounding so sad it was heartbreaking.

"I'll fucking kill them" he could hear her say. He looked up at her shocked to see her on her way to stand up. He grabbed a hold of her arm. She looked back at him the anger visible in her eyes. At first he got a little taken aback by it. Was this really Hyuuga Hinata? Then he shook his head when he remembered what she had said.

"What are you talking about?" he asked her confused.

"They treated you like filth because you were a part of saving their homes and lifes" she said to him sounding just as angry as she looked. Naruto was really taken aback now. Here he had been thinking that she was angry with him and would start treat him like most of the villagers. Instead she had been angry with them.

"You mean you aren't angry at me but at them?" he asked her some hope shining through in his tone.

"Why would I be mad at you? You didn't exactly chose to have the Kyuubi inside of you so you could kill everybody did you?" she said as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

"So, you just don't want to know of me but you aren't angry?" he asked her tentatively. At this Hinata's expression softened, looking a little shocked. As if she finally realized exactly what years of being treated like Naruto had been had done to him.

"Naruto I... I love you" she then said to him realizing that it would probably be the only way to convince him to trust her fully now that she knew.

"I have done so for some time now. I think my adoration for you evolved in to love during these last three years" she said as she looked down from his gaze somewhat shy about telling him this.

"And nothing will change my feelings for you Naruto-kun" she then said more determined as she looked up at his eyes again. She could see the fear melt away from his gaze. He then jerked her in to a hug.

"Arigatou" he whispered into her ear as he held her as if it was for the last time. She hugged him back knowing that it was probably all he needed right now. Then he suddenly pushed her away when he remembered about the images he saw during the kiss.

"We can't" was all he said to her as he held her on an arm's length.

"What? Why?" Hinata asked him sounding hurt and confused. Naruto sighed again thinking over how to explain it.

"The Kyuubi... it .. it can make me ... see ...stuff" he explained unsure. Hinata just looked confused at him. Naruto winced as he realized he had to tell her what kind of stuff more exactly. He drew back his arms and laid them in his lap looking down and away from her again.

"Well, for example... When... when we kissed... I saw .. I saw images of you blood on your skin... And I got an urge to ... to taste your blood" He said before he looked up at her again. Her expression was shocked and still somewhat confused.

"It was the Kyuubi who manipulated me" he said to her with sadness in his voice. She still didn't say anything. She didn't know what to say.

"To be honest Hinata I don't know how well I am able to control the Kyuubi in that kind of situation" he then said to her.

"Oh" was all she replied at first.

"So as you see it would be dangerous for you" he explained further.

"So what?" she then asked him. He looked up at her shocked.

"What do you mean so what? Do you have any idea what I could do to you if I were under the influence of the Kyuubi?" he asked her sounding both shocked and angry after a while.

"What if I trust you?" she asked him sounding almost rebellious.

"It isn't about you trusting me or not Hinata. It is about me trying to control the king of demons" he said the anger shining through more in his voice.

"Our situation with each other are about trust! Because if I didn't trust you I wouldn't be sitting here anymore saying that I don't care about the Kyuubi" Hinata nearly screamed at him from anger.

"It doesn't matter if you care about the Kyuubi or not. Or if you trust me. I'm not sure if _I_ can trust me. Because to tell you the truth it's one hell of a job to keep that fox in check" Naruto almost screamed back.

"So you don't even want to try?" she asked him in a whisper. Still managing to sound both angry and hurt. Naruto looked at her with an almost painful expression.

"I don't know what to say Hinata" he said sounding tired, suddenly his voice had lost all anger.

"I'm afraid of what would happen if the Kyuubi got control over me in that situation. I don't want to hurt you" he then said as he looked over at her again sounding as if being on the brink of tears.

"I couldn't stand the thought of hurting you" he then said as his eyes couldn't hold in the tears anymore and he started to cry. Hinata pulled him in towards her. His head resting towards her chest and her head on top of his. She held him like that as he cried.

"You won't ever hurt me if you don't want to" she comforted him.

"How can you be so sure?" he asked her between the sobs.

"Because I trust you" was her only explanation.

**A/N: DON'T KILL ME BECAUSE OF THE KYUUBI!!!! I just had to put him in there xD**

**Hope all of you who were angry at me or Kiba for interrupting the fluff are happy now!!!!!! xD**

**Now you can be angry with me or Kyuubi instead xD**

**Please review!!! You know it's so much easier writing if you get reviews!! So if you want more good story write reviews god damn it! xD**


	22. A fourth

**A/N: So, back after Easter vacation now.. And guess what! I got my school computer back so I don't have to wait until every second weekend anymore :D **

**We will see how often I post though.. I've gotten in to this slow time right now, but hopefully it will pass soon enough **

Chapter 22: A fourth

Hinata's eyes fluttered open as the sun hit her closed eyes. She happily thought back to the previous night. Even though it had been a big and dark secret that obviously tormented Naruto she was happy that he told her. She was happy that he trusted her enough. Of course she had been unnerved by it, who wouldn't be? Naruto had a demon in him, and not any demon, but Kyuubi the king of demons who attacked Konoha 15 years ago. When she thought about it maybe she should have been a little bit more unnerved than she had been. Still yet she was happy that she hadn't been. What had really surprised her even more than the Kyuubi was however her reaction. She had probably been just as surprised as Naruto had looked, if not even more. It was not in her style to even become the slightest angry, and there she had been saying she was going to kill the villagers and then cursing at the same time.

After a while she decided to get up, after all if she was to prove herself worthy of being the heiress she couldn't lay and do nothing all day. She got up, got dressed and made her bed quickly. All the while smiling and humming to herself. When she was finished she went to her door and opened it to step outside and go down to the kitchen and her breakfast. When opening the door however she came face to chest with Neji who was standing there with his fist raised to knock on her door. His expression was stern and Hinata already knew what he wanted before he said it. He wanted to talk to her about Naruto.

"Hi Hinata-sama" he said as he lowered his hand.

"Hello Neji-niisan" Hinata replied as she turned around and walked further in to her room again. Neji followed her and closed the door but chose to stand right next to it while she sat down on her bed.

"I would like to talk to you about Uzumaki Naruto Hinata-sama" Neji started.

"What is it about Naruto that you want to talk about?" Hinata asked Neji leaving out the suffix on the blonde's name just to mess with her cousin. For a second his jaws clenched and told her that she had succeeded.

"I don't want you to be around him Hinata-sama" Neji said bluntly. Hinata's already stern expression became almost angry at this. She respected her cousin and didn't really like fighting with him, but she wished that he could respect her and her choices as well. They had already talked about this the day before. He didn't trust Naruto with Hinata.

"I don't really think I got why you didn't trust him with me" Hinata said to her cousin.

"You know very well why, there is something with him that unnerves me still. Three years later I still get unnerved by that chakra engulfing him when he managed to open up all of his tenketsus that I had sealed just seconds earlier" Neji answered her.

"I don't say I'm not grateful for him beating me, because believe it or not I am. If it weren't for him I would still be miserable and rant about destiny. But that doesn't mean that I trust him fully, especially not with you" Neji then added.

"Isn't it my decision if he is to be trusted with me?" Hinata then asked her cousin looking him squarely in the eyes. At this Neji's gaze turned down from hers and his expression looked somewhat guilty.

"I know that Hinata-sama, so instead of telling you now I am aski... No I am begging you not to associate with Uzumaki Naruto. I get too worried when you do" This truly shocked Hinata. Yesterday she hadn't succeeded in being able to say anything against him and stand up for herself when he yelled at her and told her what to do. Because of that she had mentally tried to prepare for another time of that, instead she got this. Something she defiantly wasn't prepared for. Neji was not one to beg, and to think he would beg her just so she would stay away from Naruto. She stood there dumbfounded for a while before he looked up and started talking again.

"I know Hinata-sama that I should have more trust in you and your abilities. It's just so hard when I get this strange feeling that something horrible will happen to you as soon as you are around him" Neji said to her with pleading eyes. When her cousin brought up his faith in her she suddenly regained her senses and her ability to speak.

"I'm sorry Neji-niisan but I won't stop associate with Naruto" she said sternly.

"Bu-" Neji started only to get interrupted by her.

"No buts Neji-niisan. I love Naruto and there is no words you can say that will change that. I'm sorry if it bothers you but I guess you will just have to learn to trust more in me as you said" Hinata said just as sternly before she stood up and walked pass him out of the room without another word.

On her way down to the kitchen she walked as if in a haze not really believing what she had done. She didn't really have any control over where her feet took her. So when she suddenly took a right turn in to a bathroom it wasn't planned. Still yet she didn't become shocked by it, she was still in too much of a haze.

The last strides from the door to the toilet her feet ran as she threw herself down on the floor in front of it and hurled. She didn't know where it came from, she didn't feel sick still yet she just vomited. She panted heavily in panic afterwards and looked around as she leaned back and sat on the floor of the bathroom with her back against the cool tiled wall.

Suddenly realization hit her. She had stood up for herself against Neji, who even had sunk as low as begging her. Panic and relief hit her at the same time. She got this weird feeling of freedom afterwards. Earlier she had only stood up for herself against Kiba, but never for any real life problem that would be noticeable in her life whether she did or not.

At the same time she felt the panic creep up on her. She had said that to Neji of all. What had she done? How could she have been so rude? She needed to apologize to him.

No Hinata. You can't apologize, that would mean you can't be with Naruto. Just the thought of that brought on a panic even greater than the earlier one. Suddenly she didn't want breakfast anymore. Instead she wanted, no needed someone who would tell her that she had done the right thing. She immediately knew who would tell her that.

Naruto woke early and tired that day. As he sat and ate Ramen for breakfast in his pajama pants he thought back at the earlier night and how Hinata just had accepted him naturally. He felt happy and contempt as he slowly ate his breakfast between the yawns. He was really tired.

In the middle of his breakfast he thought he heard a soft thud on the door. He stopped in his movements and watched the door. He wasn't sure but he thought that it was somebody knocking at it. Just to make sure he walked over and opened the door to look. On the other side of the threshold Hinata was standing her eyes red and puffy from crying and otherwise looking slightly panicked.

Hinata knocked gently when she reached Naruto's apartment since she just then realized that he might actually still be sleeping. She just stood there some time hoping that he would open the door. After a while she could see the doorknob turn and the door open. Holding on to the door was Naruto clad in only a pair of pajama pants looking incredibly tired. Hinata felt how her face heated up from the sight of the shirtless Naruto. That added with the previous panic, which she still could feel, made her feel somewhat dizzy.

"H-h-hello N-naruto-kun" Hinata stammered nervously.

"Hi Hinata-chan, what's wrong?" Naruto asked her sounding worried.

"N-n-neji-niisan .. he" Hinata said as she pointed down the aisle where she came from pointlessly.

"What did Neji do to you?" Naruto asked her sounding more worried now.

"He... I ..." Hinata said at the same time as she started breathing heavily. Suddenly she felt the panic creep up on her once more. Without realizing it her eyes had started to fill up with tears, she realized first when she felt the salt taste when one of them reached the corner of her mouth. When she felt the taste she suddenly noticed the haze in front of her eyes made by the tears. She hadn't noticed at first because of the panic. She couldn't see it but she could feel Naruto reach out and embrace her.

"So so Hinata-chan" he said soothingly as he hugged her. She started to cry in to his shoulder aggressively. After a while Naruto decided that it would be best for them not to stand there in the hallway so he carefully backed in to his apartment not letting go of Hinata. Once inside he turned the two of them around and let her go with one hand so he could close the door behind his back.

"What ever he did he can't do it right now" he said as he brought his hand back to the backside of her head again. Hinata started to shake her head in to his shoulder.

"No... it hiccup was hiccup n't him hiccup" she said to his shoulder.

"It hiccup was hiccup me" she then added before she started crying soundly in to his shoulder.

"So so, I'm sure it wasn't that bad" Naruto said soothingly not really knowing how he could act so calm. On the inside he was extremely confused and almost in a state of panic, not knowing what to do. Luckily enough this didn't show on the outside and his body seemed to be moving on its own. He kissed her on her forehead when her sobs started to calm down after a while.

Soon she had stopped crying and they just stood there. Hinata liked the feeling of just standing there being embraced by Naruto. She was however afraid that he would soon push her away because he didn't want her like that too long. Because of that she pushed away after a while before he had to.

To his dismay Naruto noticed Hinata starting to push herself away from him and he reluctantly followed suit and let her.

"Feeling any better?" he asked her, his voice filled with concern. She nodded as she looked down at his bare chest. She didn't actually look at it, her gaze was just directed that way.

"You want to tell me what happened that made you like this?" he then asked her. She sniffled before she nodded her head and spoke.

"Okay"

Naruto lead her to the couch and sat down with her sitting crossways over his lap. He then hugged her close once again.

"So, what did Neji do?" he then asked her with his chin on the top of her head.

"It wasn't really him" Hinata replied quietly still breathing heavily after crying.

"I won't believe that Hinata-chan. What did Neji-teme do?" Naruto asked again half joking about the suffix. Hinata noticed this and laughed somewhat. Naruto smiled at this and waited for her to answer.

"Well, Yesterday morning he came and wanted to speak to me" Hinata started. She could feel Naruto nodding and how his chest vibrated when he hummed.

"He wasn't happy with me then, or more exact, he wasn't happy with me and you" she then said. She could feel how Naruto's jaws strain but he didn't say anything.

"He was angry yesterday. He said that he didn't trust you" she continued in the same quiet voice hoping he wouldn't interrupt her.

"I ran out crying and didn't go home until after our date, that was why I was standing outside when you came" she continued on without interruptions.

"Today Neji came and talked to me again. Only today he wasn't angry, instead he sunk as low as begging me not to 'associate' with you because he got so worried then. At first I was thrown aback by this. Then after I while I regained my senses and I spoke back to him" she told Naruto feeling how he started to relax a little bit at the end of her sentence.

"I guess I'm still shocked that about what I did and I can't believe that I was that rude to Neji-niisan" she said starting to feel tears welling up in her eyes at the end. Naruto who noticed this started to rock her slowly.

"So Hinata-chan" he said to her soothingly.

"You know, I'm proud over you" he then said to her. Hinata practically froze. After a while she rose from her crouched position and looked him in the eyes with her big surprised ones.

"What?" she asked him. He jsut smiled back at her.

"I said I'm proud over you, you managed to stand up for yourself again Neji" he repeated himself. Afterwards he leaned down and kissed her on the lips. At first she was somewhat surprised but she quickly kissed back and threw her arms around his neck pressing his head to hers. His arms around her waist that earlier had been cradling her were now pressing her body to his. He just loved how soft her lips felt on his and the way he so easily could smell her sweet scent, the scent of Jasmine and Vanilla blended into a wonderful mix that he just couldn't get enough of. Hinata felt how she practically melted in to him, or at least she wanted to.

"Ahem" could suddenly be heard in the room. Naruto and Hinata froze in the middle of the kiss before they parted, trying to find the source of the sound. In the now open door Rin stood watching them with a playful smile. One of her eyebrows arched meaningfully at them.

"It seems as if the two of you have gotten quite a way" she said after a while before she started to walk in to the room towards the table. Naruto and Hinata looked at each other shocked before hurriedly scrambling away from each other blushing furiously.

"What are you doing here Rin-chan?" Naruto asked her after a while when he regained his brain after the kiss and shock. Before answering Rin sat down at the table and put her still clad feet on the table.

"You and I" she said as she pointed from him to herself.

"Need to talk to Sakura-san" Naruto looked at her somewhat confused. She just raised her eyebrow again not wanting to speak up in the presence of Hinata. The timid Hyuuga girl looked back and forth between the blond and the red head wondering what Rin meant. She did however not word her question in worry of being impolite. After a while understanding dawned on Naruto's face.

"Aah, yeah. I had already forgotten about that" he said as he scratched the back of his neck awkwardly. Rin sighed as she hung and shook her head.

"So typical you Teinousha" Then suddenly her head snapped up looking at him again.

"First however we got a meeting at Tsunade-sama's office with her and Jiraiya-sensei. Apparently he had found something out he needed to tell us" she then added.

"Okay" he looked her a little confused. Ero-sennin had managed to find something so important out Tsunade had to be there in the last few days? Otherwise he could just as well have told them a couple of days ago when he taught Rin her new technique.

"We need to go there now" she then said before she stood up and went to the door. When she reached the open door she turned back her head and looked at them suggestively.

"I'll wait outside while you two say good bye" she then said sounding just the way she looked at them before she quickly stepped outside and closed the door.

Naruto looked over at Hinata seeing her already looking back at him.

"Ehm, It looks as if I need to get out of here" Naruto said after a short uncomfortable silence.

"Yeah it looks like it" she replied.

"I don't know how long it will take. But if you don't want to go back and face Neji yet you can stay here" he then said as he stood and walked over to her still sitting some way from him on the couch. She looked up on him as he stood there in front of him.

"No, that's alright. I don't want to be a nuisance" she said with a smile to him. He crouched down in front of her so that his head was now slightly beneath her and he had to look up. The height difference was however now smaller than earlier.

"You wouldn't be a nuisance. But it's your choice" he then said before he stretched up and gave her another kiss. She instantly felt how she melted, it was however over before she truly could. Naruto then stood.

"I need to put on my shirt first" he said with a laugh before he went to his room. Hinata looked him enter his room and soon after coming out from it. Only this time fully clothed. He made his way over to her and gave her another peck on the lips before making his way over to the door.

"Just make sure you lock and then go from the balcony when you leave" he then said with a smile over his shoulder before he went out from his apartment leaving Hinata sitting there looking after him.

* * *

Rin was standing outside the apartment complex waiting for Naruto to come out. She stood leaning against the wall next to the door and when he walked out she pushed herself away from the wall.

"So, I didn't even know there actually had happened anything between the two of you. And here I come walking in on you in the middle of one big make out session that looked as if it was leading somewhere else" she said with a smug smile.

"What are you talking about?" he asked her sounding somewhat irritated.

"Well, you didn't have any shirt on so that must have come off you at some point and she was practically straddling you, which is a very promising position" Rin counted the two things on her fingers and looked as if she was going to continue before Naruto interrupted her.

"First of all, I didn't have any shirt on before we kissed. And she wasn't straddling me" he said as they walked down the street where the complex which held his home laid.

"_Practically_, keyword there Teinousha" she said ignoring the part about his shirt not sure she wanted to know.

"To straddle me her legs must be on either side of my lap"

"Details" she said as she waved her hand is if his argument had been an irritable fly that she waved off.

* * *

Jiraiya was standing in Tsunade's office leaning against her desk with his back towards her. He was waiting for Naruto and Rin to show up at the same time as he was trying to tune out Tsunade. She had been trying to get him to tell her what this was about for quite some time now.

"Come on, I think it's better that I know what this is about when you tell them. It wouldn't look good if the Hokage, one of those who told them, didn't know what ever this is about" She said as she bored her eyes into his back.

"For the last time Tsunade I won't tell you before they get here. This isn't you and me telling them, this is me telling you" he said to her sounding irritated and tired.

"Now drink your sake. I'm sure the glass misses its usual attention" he said as he waved a hand dismissively. She looked over at the glass standing beside her as usual. Ever since he had gotten her today she had been acting very much out of character and hadn't even looked at it. She grunted before she looked at his back again, opening her mouth to speak once more. She was however interrupted by the sound of somebody knocking on her door. Jiraiya looked up from the floor as she turned her head from him to the door.

"Enter" she said sounding slightly irritated that she hadn't been able to pry it out of him yet. This was probably Naruto and Rin, that meant that she would have to settle for getting to know it at the same time as them. Something she didn't like, being the Hokage and all. Just as she had anticipated it was Naruto and Rin who entered the room.

"You had something to tell us Ero-sennin" Naruto said as a greeting to them.

"Good day, Tsunade-sama, Jiraiya-sensei" Rin said as she bowed slightly to them in order, not wanting to be seen as impolite as her blond friend.

"Hi there Rin" Jiraiya said - all but as polite as Rin - as he waved his hand at her.

"And you have to stop calling me that" Jiraiya greeted Naruto with a sigh.

"Yeah yeah what ever. What did you and Oba-chan want?" he asked him once again.

"You should stop calling me that too" Tsunade shoot in, sounding far more irritated at the nickname than her old team mate.

"Just tell us what you wanted to tell us" he shoot back at her clearly wanting to know what they had to tell him.

"Well, actually I don't know what this is about. Jiraiya here won't tell me" she said as she shoot his back another glare. He sighed and shook his head at the blond woman sitting at the desk.

"I have found something very interesting out. Akatsuki have apparently managed to get every single Bijuu there is, except: The Kyuubi, Hachibi, Ichibi and … the Gobi" Jiraiya said.

"Okay, how does that change anything?" Rin asked him.

"That fact alone doesn't change too much, what does change everything – actually it practically turns the whole situation upp side down for us – is the fact that I know who and where the Gobi is" He answered her question. They started shocked and quiet at him all three of them. He knew where the fourth Jinchuuriki was?

"You mean you have managed to locate another Jinchuuriki?" Naruto asked him after a while. Jiraiya smiled a smug smile at their amazement with his info-searching abilities. Even though they often complained on them it were at these times that he could show them they worked. Even when it came to info gathering you could combine work and pleasure.

"Yes, I have managed to do exactly that" he replied the smugness shining through immensely in to his voice.

"Then might you do us the honor and actually telling us who the Gobi Jinchuuriki is?" Tsunade asked him irritated after a while. Until she said anything he had just stood there being as smug as possible. Bathing in the amazement that they drowned him in, according to him.

"I'm coming to that part Tsunade dear" he said to her as he for the first time shoot her a glance over his shoulder. She turned her eyes in to slits meeting his gaze.

"Might you hurry, you see we are very curious about that particular part" she said. He just gave her a large smile before turning back to Naruto and Rin. She rolled her eyes to his back before also settling her gaze at the two standing in front of the desk. Suddenly Jiraiya became serious again.

"Her name is Bakudan Tori. She is from the Hidden Stone Village and belongs to a clan which uses a special kind of clay to make bombs. They chew the clay with the mouths on their hands and she houses the five tailed eagle" he told them.

They looked at him a little shocked. Despite the fact that he had told them he knew who the Gobi Jinchuuriki was they hadn't really understood that he truly did until now. He didn't just know that it was the only Jinchuuriki still alive that they hadn't met, he also knew her name, where she lived and probably much more about her. It was least say shocking information.

"Okay, that is pretty much information Jiraiya" Tsunade said after a while. Jiraiya turned his head towards her.

"Yeah, I wanted to have as much information on her as possible" he replied. The blond woman arched an eyebrow at him questioningly.

"Why would you want as much information as possible on her?" she asked him sounding almost daring.

"Well to make it as easy as possible when we go to get her" he explained as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. Almost instantly Tsunade's expression hardened. After a while she put her elbows on the desk in front of her and her head in her hands. She closed her eyes and sighed looking as if she was counting to ten in a desperate way to calm herself.

"You are not going to get her" she said after a while in a strained voice.

"Of course we are" Jiraiya replied sounding irritated.

"No, you are not" Tsunade said in the same strained voice. At this point they could all three see the very visible twitching of Tsunade's eyebrow. If they would have looked that is. Jiraiya on the other hand wasn't looking at Tsunade at all and didn't see the warning sign.

"And why wouldn't we Tsunade?" he asked her with a sigh sounding irritated and tired. When he didn't get a reply from the woman that right then did everything she could to control herself he continued on talking.

"I mean I don't see a single reason why we shouldn't get her. If we find her and bring her back here and then manage to get Gaara here to we can have some kind of gathering-" he was then interrupted by the desk cracking. Upon closer inspection it was more precisely Tsunade who had broken the desk in her fury. In an instant Jiraiya was crouching behind a terrified looking Naruto. He put his large hands on Naruto's shoulders and looked up behind the blond boy.

"I said no" Tsunade said breathing heavily out of anger. She was now standing up instead with the now broken desk in front of her.

"Why not? If I may ask Tsunade-sama" Rin then asked. Naruto and Jiraiya looked at her shocked. What was the girl doing? Rin was standing there looking towards Tsunade without any palpable expression on her face. The Hokage looked up when she heard Rin speaking and her tone. When she looked at Rin her expression softened but still yet didn't loose any of its sternness. She sat down once again in her chair which still stood there behind her.

"Well I think it's quite obvious that the Hokage wouldn't want all four still living Jinchuuriki in her village at the same time" she replied sounding far more calm than when she had spoken to Jiraiya.

"How come?" Rin asked her still yet without any real expression.

"Well, the Akatsuki of course" Tsunade said as she motioned with her arms outwards. Rin just raised an eyebrow signaling for her to continue. Naruto and Jiraiya stood and watched the whole thing unfold in front of them with awe. Suddenly Tsunade was seemingly calm again and was actually giving an explanation to her no without screaming it. This was something neither of them could accomplish - especially not Jiraiya, despite knowing her for so long. Still yet Rin could.

"Let's say that all remaining Jinchuuriki were gathered in one single place. One single place which you already know contains a Jinchuuriki since earlier and is very easy to find. What would you do if you were the Akatsuki?" Tsunade answered Rin's unsaid question. Rin just looked back at the sitting woman for a while before answering.

"I guess I would attack since I don't need to look for them anymore"

**A/N: So, hope you liked this little longer chapter **

**I know the first scene Hinata is very ooc, but at least I tried to make up for it some with her little breakdown.. **

**Please review! And have it good until next time! :D**


	23. The truth

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto**

**A/N: To be honest I am not a 100 satisfied with the name of the chapter. But I couldn't come up with anything and my sister suggested this name, and I just felt 'why not?' it was after all better than anything I came up with (which equals nothing) **

Chapter 23: The truth

After the meeting with Jiraiya and Tsunade – which still hadn't gotten any real solution – Naruto and Rin started to walk towards Sakura's home.

"So, guess it's good we're going to tell Sakura if we're gonna go get the fourth one" Naruto said when they walked out of the Hokage building.

"What do you mean?" Rin asked him.

"Well, she would go with us right? So then it would probably be good if she knew why we are getting the girl. Right?" Naruto explained.

"Yeah I guess, but you know it's not sure yet we're going to go get Tori" Rin said after a while.

"I know. I did say _if_"

"By the way, when we're on the subject of telling people" Naruto then said as he squinted up towards the sun. Rin looked over at him as they were walking, already knowing somewhat where he was going with this.

"Are you planning on telling Shino-kun?" Naruto then asked her. Rin winced at his question. She had been right in her assumptions regarding what he was talking about.

"I don't know" she answered truthfully after a while. He just nodded at her not saying anything more at first.

"If you want something with him I think you should" he then added after a while.

"Yeah, I know. I just don't know if I should tell him. And if I should, how?" she explained. He nodded knowing exactly what she meant and also the last reason to why she didn't know if she should tell him. How would he react?

"Hey" she said after a while when she realized something. He looked down at her again.

"What about Hinata-san?" she asked him.

"I told her" he answered. Rin stopped dead in her tracks and looked shocked at Naruto, her mouth open wide. He stopped and looked back at her.

"You told her?" she said after a while when she regained her senses.

"Yeah"

"How did she take it?" she asked.

"Well, I think you saw that she didn't really take it as bad as she could have" he said with a smirk. She looked at him confused before she remembered how she had found them earlier that day. Hinata sitting in Naruto's lap, the two of them kissing.

"You mean she just accepted it?" Rin asked him surprised, the edges of her large wide open mouth pointing upwards.

"Yeah, pretty much. She got angry and wanted to kill all the villagers. But besides that it all went smoothly" he said with a smile deliberately leaving out the part with the images sent from Kyuubi.

"What? Hinata-san wanted to kill all the villagers?" Rin asked him flabbergasted.

"Yeah, I know. Shocked the hell out of me too" he said with a laugh. Rin just laughed with him and shook her head when she suddenly realized something.

"Wait a minute? Did you tell her about me?" she then asked him. He looked over at her suddenly serious again.

"Of course I didn't. Why would I tell her about you as well? That is not my thing to tell, at least not without your consent" he replied. He could almost see how she breathed out in relief.

"Good, I almost feared there for a while that you had" she said as she looked up again. Naruto could see how her expression turned slightly in to that of despair as she stopped a second time.

"What?" he said as he followed her gaze. As he did so he also stopped and adopted the same expression as she had. They had reached Sakura's home.

Naruto swallowed once before he spoke up.

"So, we're here then" he said without looking at Rin.

"Yeah, I guess" she said her voice sounding uncharacteristically weak. They both took a deep breath before they started walking again. As they reached the door Naruto brought up his hand and knocked on the door. Soon they heard steps on the other side of the door and after a while the door opened to reveal Sakura.

"Naruto, Rin-chan. Hi" she said happily at the sight of her friends.

"Hi Sakura-chan" Naruto said with a nervous smile. Rin just nodded almost nauseous from nervousness. Sakura easily detected their mood and her expression changed to a concerned one.

"What's up?" she asked them her tone making it obvious that she in reality was wondering what was wrong.

"We have something we need to tell you about us" Naruto answered, Rin still too nervous to open her mouth.

"Okay ... come in" Sakura replied before she stepped aside to let her friends in.

They walked in and sat down at the table in the kitchen. When Sakura also had sat down she started to talk again.

"So, what was it that you wanted?" she asked the two of them.

"Well-" Rin started only to get interrupted.

"Wouldn't it be better if I told her about me first Rin-chan?" Naruto asked the red head.

"Why?" Rin asked him turning her head from Sakura to him.

"Because I think it's easier for her to understand my story first" he replied. Rin looked as if she thought about it for a while before she spoke again and when she did it sounded somewhat reluctant

"Yeah, I guess" Naruto smiled slightly at Rin's will to be first even in a situation as this. Then he turned back to Sakura and her confused face. At the sight of her he felt how his mouth turned dry. It didn't matter that he had already said it once before, it was just as hard the second time. It was after all an entirely new person, an entirely new reaction.

"Guess this doesn't get easier with time" he said after a while with a sigh. Rin felt how her insides clenched. If that was true it meant that it would be exactly this hard to tell Shino too.

"Sakura-chan" Naruto started after thinking it over for quite some time.

"Yeah, Naruto" she said willing him to go on.

"You know about the Kyuubi, right?" He asked her after a while.

"And how it attacked Konoha fifteen years ago?" he then continued before she could answer. Suddenly understanding dawned on her face.

"I already know Naruto" she then said after a while, her voice soft as she spoke. He looked up at her confused – he hadn't been able to look at her earlier.

"What?" he asked her. Suddenly she looked guilty.

"Well, you know how you heal so quickly? Well as the medic I am I thought that it would be interesting to do some tests on you to know why and if it could help somehow. Because of that Tsunade-shishou had to tell me" she explained. Naruto looked at her totally awed.

"Please don't be mad at her" she then hurriedly added when she misread his face.

"When?" he breathed out after a while unable to say anything.

"When you were away with Jiraiya" she said still sounding guilty.

"So you mean you knew since I came back?" he asked trying to get eye contact with her.

"Mm" she said with a nod.

"Why didn't you tell me?" he asked her still trying to get eye contact.

"Why would I? You are still Naruto. It doesn't matter that I suddenly found out that you had the Kyuubi inside of you" she then claimed looking in to his eyes again. He felt how a warmness spread through his entire being. When that warmth came to his face a huge grin spread across his face. Suddenly he stood up and walked over to Sakura to embrace her.

"Arigatou" he said as he hugged her.

"There's no reason for you to thank me" she replied.

"Still yet, thank you" he said before he let go of her. He walked back to sit down again. When he once again sat down next to Rin he looked over at his red haired friend. She seemed slightly more at ease at Sakura's reaction to Naruto. Still yet she looked tense. Something very understandable.

* * *

Rin was walking quietly in the forest next to Shino. The silence didn't bother her this time – something that Shino noticed since it was so out of character for her. Instead of trying to kick up a conversation as usual she was thinking back at the talk with Sakura and Naruto. It had quite obviously gone just as well for her as for Naruto. Since Sakura had already accepted him it would be very weird _and _hypocritical not to accept her.

Right now she just hoped that Shino would be as understanding as Sakura.

"Is there a reason for your silence?" he asked her after a while of not being able to concentrate on anything else. She looked over at him shocked at first. Then her expression turned in to a frown.

"Is it that obvious?" she asked him.

"Yes" he replied. She sighed and looked down on the ground not saying anything more.

"Well, what is it then?" he asked again after a while of waiting.

"I have this thing I need to tell you" she said as she looked up from the ground again but she didn't look at him. Even though she had tried to work up to a speech before hand she hadn't been able to. She still didn't have any idea what to say, and most of all, where to start.

"Have you ever heard of the nine Bijuu?" she suddenly asked him surprising even herself.

"Er, I think so. The nine beasts with tails that represents their power. The Kyuubi who attacked Konoha being one of them" he replied. She nodded at this.

"Well, do you know what a Jinchuuriki is then?" She continued asking him still not really knowing where it came from.

"A what?" he asked her confused.

"A Jinchuuriki" she answered. "It is someone who has a Bijuu sealed inside of him or her" she then continued. She felt how she started to bite her lip out of anxiety.

"Okay, why the sudden lesson in this?" he asked her still sounding confused.

"Because….. because" she swallowed once trying to clear her mouth to get out the words.

"Because…. I'm a Jinchuuriki" she said after a while not looking at him, not wanting to see his reaction. Even though the talk with Sakura had gone so extremely well it hadn't boosted her confidence about telling Shino. Still yet it was because of that talk - just earlier that day – that she decided to tell him. Naruto had been right, Shino did after all deserve to know.

"You're what?" he asked her some anger molding in to his confused tone.

"I'm a Jinchuuriki. When I was born Hachibi the eight tailed wolf was sealed inside of me because my clan wanted power" She said also explaining more about it hoping that it would maybe make him understand a little bit as well.

It was quiet for a while. He didn't say anything, just stood there besides her. After some time she managed to build up enough courage to turn her head and look at him. He was just standing there quiet, looking at her behind his glasses. They stood so for a while until this quiet hiss started emanating from him.

"They wanted our clan to be the most powerful one in the world despite its village-less situation. Therefore they sealed the Hachibi inside of –" she said ignoring how the hiss grew louder with every word she spoke. At last she got cut off by him.

"Stop. Talking." He hissed out verbally. She felt how tears threatened to dwell up through her eyes. She desperately fought them not wanting to show him how much his anger hurt her. Did he seriously think that she had chosen this herself or something?

"Why?" she asked him bluntly trying to hide her actual hurt.

"Because. If you don't. I will probably. Kill somebody" he explained sounding angry, obviously trying to control himself.

"Because you're angry with me?" she asked him not able to conceal her hurt anymore.

Suddenly his anger disappeared and he looked confused. When he spoke his tone sounded just as confused as earlier before she had explained what she was.

"Why would I be angry with you?" he asked her.

"Why wouldn't you? I house the Hachibi after all" she said without any hurt in her voice. His confusion had given her time to gather herself again.

"That is a very bad reason to be angry with you" he said without confusion. He didn't sound angry again but his tone held some kind of edge as if he was still angry, only concealing it.

"Then why were you angry?" she asked him, now her turn to be confused. He sighed, sounding tired as he did so.

"Even though I and my clan don't exactly show much emotion we are still very … primitive in our thoughts because of the influence of our bugs. Therefore we are trained so we won't show any emotions. Otherwise we would go around wearing our emotions and thoughts. And also act on them a lot more. Far too much that is" Shino started explaining quieting after that. She looked at him still confused.

"That doesn't answer my question Shino" she stated, trying to make him explain further.

"Sometimes our instincts grow too strong. And, we can't really control them" he continued on explaining but he once again quieted.

"Okay, and where are you going with this? That if I continue on talking about me being a Jinchuuriki you would kill me because you would lose your temper out of the anger you feel towards me?" Rin asked him sounding angry and hurt. Apparently her earlier tries to conceal her hurt had stopped working so now she tried the angry front.

"No, why would I want to kill you? Once again you're saying stuff that doesn't make sense" he said once again sounding angry at her.

"Well if it's not me you want to kill then who is it?" she asked him sounding just as angry.

"I don't want to kill anyone" Shino screamed. Rin looked shocked at him. It wasn't Shino to scream out of anger. Suddenly she realized just how much emotions he had showed during just the last seconds. She looked at him waiting for him to continue. He sighed under her gaze and looked tired instead of angry.

Then the tables turned and he was the one trying to explain something.

"I…… I think I'm…. falling for you Rin-chan" Shino said after a while. She looked at him shocked. Before she could reply however he continued speaking.

"Because of that I guess there is a lot of feeling going through both me and my bugs – since they have grown attached to you and your chakra. Then it probably became too much and if you would have continued they would probably made me loose it and go on a rampage or something" he explained with a sigh on the ending.

"But why would you go on a rampage because you're …. Falling for me?" she asked him.

"Because I did get angry" he answered her.

"At what?" she continued asking him.

"At your parents I guess. For making you go through that just so they could get power as a clan" he said sounding defeated. He looked away from her seemingly unable to look at her anymore. Something inside of him told him that his reaction was way too big for coming so short in to their relationship.

"Okay, so you don't….. hate… me?" she asked him sounding insecure. He looked over at her again.

"No, I don't hate you for something like that. It's not like you could help it. And you are still you" he said with a sigh as he looked over at her. Rin felt how the words soothed her, they did however not do all of the job. If he didn't hate her then why did he still look like that, that crestfallen?

"I do however think that I need some time to melt this. Otherwise I don't know if I would be able to control the kikachus" he then added looking her in the eyes again. She felt a small stab inside of her. It didn't matter that he said that he wasn't angry at her but at people like her parents. It didn't matter that he said it was only until he managed to melt it. She still felt hurt by his decision. Maybe he was just afraid of her now and therefore didn't say the truth?

"I'm sorry" he said before he went over to her and gave her a peck on the cheek. Afterwards he turned away and walked towards the village leaving her there alone in the forest.

She stood there afterwards holding a hand on her cheek. They weren't the couple who showed very much physical affection so after the mission they hadn't even kissed. Therefore that small gesture meant quite a lot for them.

She felt how a large grin started to form on her lips. After a while she felt like squealing, jumping up and down and shaking her hands furiously in an extremely giddy way. She wasn't entirely sure what it was but it felt like such an overwhelming happiness that it just couldn't be ignored. To her surprise she did exactly what she felt like doing. When she had stopped jumping she looked around and hoped that no one had seen her. That would have been just too embarrassing to stand. Luckily for her no human being had seen her. The only living creature that had witnessed her display had been some birds that she had scared the shit out of. She hurried out of the forest with a smile playing on her lips.

* * *

Tsunade heard a knock on her door. It was evening and she was soon going home so she was surprised by the late visit.

"Come in" she said looking at the door curiously. Entered did Yuuhi Kurenai.

"Good evening Tsunade-sama" she said as she entered.

"Good evening Kurenai-san" Tsunade answered.

"I'm here about the report from our last mission. Kakashi-san didn't finish his until now" she said as she walked up to the desk and dropped two separate mission reports on the table.

"Thank you" Tsunade said as she reached for the reports. Kurenai turned around and started walking to the door to go home again.

"Wait a minute Kurenai-san" Tsunade stopped her before she reached the door. Kurenai turned around to Tsunade again looking curious.

"About your and Kakashi-san's separate mission. Did you find out who?" she asked her as she placed her hands under her chin. Her elbows were resting on the desk surface as at so many times before.

"As it hopefully says in Kakashi-san's report" Kurenai started with a small smile. Tsunade replied to it with one of her own before Kurenai continued.

"We aren't hundred percent sure but we suspect that it was Itachi. Apparently the Akatsuki has started to move" Kurenai said seeming more serious now than at the beginning of the sentence. Tsunade pondered her words for a while.

"You went pretty close to the Hidden Stone village right?" Tsunade asked her after a while of silence.

"Yes, we did however not wish to enter in to Earth country if not necessary since it's enemy territory" Kurenai replied.

"Of course, no need to annoy them without a reason to do so" Tsunade said as he pondered Kurenai words some more.

"Well, you can leave again" Tsunade said with a smile getting one back from the dark haired woman standing in her office.

"Good bye Tsunade-sama" she said before she turned around and left the office.

Tsunade turned her chair and looked out on Konoha and the retreating sun. So Akatsuki was moving again, and they were moving close to the Hidden Stone Village, where one of the last Jinchuuriki was. Maybe Jiraiya was right about them having to do something. At the same time they had to do it soon in that case, if Akatsuki already was over there searching for Tori.

**A/N: Hope you liked the chapter! **

**I just felt that Shino couldn't just stand there and be his usual quiet self. So I made this little twist with his clan which I thought fitted them. I just hope that you like it as well! Now please review!! :D**


	24. Towards Earth

**A/N: So, here's another chapter. A little late compared to the latest chapters, and also short. I'm sorry about that, but I just couldn't make it any longer. **

Chapter 24: Towards Earth Country

Tsuande summoned Jiraiya to her office already the next day to once again discuss the Tori situation. After Kurenai's visit she had thought about the last Jinchuuriki so much that she had basically already reconsidered.

"Have you reconsidered?" Jiraiya said with a smirk.

"Almost" Tsunade answered calmly. Jiraiya looked at her dumbfounded. His mouthed opened and closed as a fish up on land. Tsuande raised an eyebrow questioningly at him

"You thought that I wouldn't reconsider and you would have to go get her without my consent?" she asked him amused. He nodded, his expression still dumbfounded.

"Well I had a nice little chat with Yuuhi Kurenai yesterday about one of her most recent missions. And I started to rethink my decision" Tsunade stated calmly. Jiraiya wasn't sure if her should be relieved or disappointed. He was happy that she was smart enough to re-think, and that he didn't have to anger her by leaving to get Tori without Tsunade's consent – it was never fun to anger Tsunade. At the same time he was somewhat disappointed that she confessed to having been wrong so calmly. She didn't give him a reason to be smug about it when she did it like that, and he wanted to be smug when he had been right and she wrong.

"Because of that I'm willing to discuss the current situation" she said as she leaned back in her chair looking relaxed.

"You're serious?" he asked her sounding somewhat suspicious.

"Of course I am" she said as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. He looked at her a little confused.

"Okay, what are you thinking then?" he asked her after a while figuring that she at least should be serious.

"According to Kurenai-san's report the Akatsuki is moving and they are doing so within earth country" Tsunade said seeming more serious and less relaxed now than just a few seconds ago.

"I am already very aware of that" Jiraiya responded to this.

* * *

Three days later team Kakashi plus Jiraiya set out towards Earth Country. When they reached the border they were supposed to go under cover as civilians. Earth and Fire were after all not on friendly bases.

Sakura yaned as she sat there on the bench with Rin waiting for the rest of their team to show up. She thought she saw something in the corner of her eye further up the road and looked up there waiting to see Naruto or maybe Jiraiya – It was after all still too early for Kakashi.

Instead she saw the three youngest members of team eight coming down the road from town. It looked as if either they had a mission on their own or they had comed to say good bye to them. She smiled a large smile and jumped up to run and hug Kiba. As she reached him she jumped up in to his arms, throwing hers around his neck, circling her legs around him and kissing him. Hinata smiled a little bit at them while Shino continued on towards Rin who was standing there watching him approach.

"Hello" she said as he reached her. They hadn't talked or met ever since she had told him and she still didn't know exactly how he felt now.

"Hi Rin-chan" he said as he reached down and gave her a peck on the cheek just as three days ago. She smiled automatically at him as he stood up again.

"So you're still okay with it?" she asked him after a while.

"I was always okay with it. I just needed to calm down" he stated calmly without showing any feelings in his tone.

--

Hinata looked at Shino and Rin standing there looking at each other. She had found out about Rin two days ago and how Shino had reacted to it. She was happy that it seemed as if Rin had forgiven Shino for his actions. The boy had been uncharectaristicly nervous about her reaction to his. Hinata had told him that Rin would understand, it hadn't help too much though.

Hinata had accepted Rin as a Jinchuuriki just as easily she had accepted Naruto being one. Naruto and Rin had agreed to let everyone know. They had however asked Sakura to tell it, they didn't think that they would manage to do it more times.

Suddenly she felt a pair of arms reach around her waist from behind.

"Hi there Hinata-chan" she could hear Naruto whisper close to her ear. She felt how heat rose to her face and tinted her cheeks red.

"Hi" she breathed unable to speak properly.

"So, he has finally decided to accept her?" Naruto asked looking at Shino and Rin over Hinata's shoulder.

"No, he had just calmed down now" she answered with a smile leaning back in to Naruto.

"What? So he still hasn't accepted her?" he asked her sounding surprised, his voice also containing an edge to it.

"He always accepted her and what she is. He just got angry at what her parents must have done to her" Hinata replied. She felt how Naruto relaxed behind her again.

"Oh, I guess I can understand that" he said with a small shrug.

* * *

When they had said their good byes team Kakashi and Jiraiya set out towards Earth Country. They traveled in a fast past jumping from branch to branch through the forest. Because of that the conversation between them was non existent.

They continued running far after dark had laid down over them, and when they finally stopped all of them was only happy to sleep. Still yet Jiraiya had to stay up and keep guard.

As he sat there looking in to the fire Kakashi soon came out from his tent. He silently walked and sat down at the fire with Jiraiya.

"So, another Jinchuuriki eh?" he asked after a while seemingly to no one in particular.

"Yepp" Jiaraiya replied, popping his lips at the p's.

"How did you find her?" Kakashi continued asking the same way.

"Well, when you went on your last mission I pretty much went on the same mission as you and Kurenai. Only I already knew that it was Itachi that had been sighted and I followed them further than you two. I did however not know that you guys also had that mission" Jiraiya answered.

"How could you be so sure that it was Itachi?" Kakashi asked him.

"Well, I know for a fact that Orochimaru is trying to keep Sasuke close at hand now a days since he doesn't have much time left until he have to change body" Jiraiya said with a sigh. Kakashi snapped up his head from the fire to Jiaraiya.

"You mean that you know Sasuke may only have days left and you haven't told anyone?" he asked him sounding somewhat angry. Jiraiya looked up and meet Kakashi's gaze with a smirk playing on his lips.

"Don't worry. Don't you think that I would have told you if I thought Sasuke only had days left?" Jiraiya asked. Kakashi just looked at him confused without saying anything.

"Orochimaru have been having…. A hard … time.. you could say. Apparently Sasuke have been hard to locate the latests weeks. Since Itachi still lives I doubt that Sasuke will let Orochimaru take his body yet. I think he is trying to accomplish the same thing as three years ago. He is trying to force Orochimaru in to changing body" Jiraiya explained. Kakashi looked at him with an eyes as big as a saucer.

"You mean you think that we have another three years?" Kakashi asked him.

"No, I mean that I know that we will have another three years" Jiraiya answered, still supporting the same smirk. Kakashi's eyebrows burrowed in confusion.

"How can you know?" he asked him.

"According to my sources Orochimaru probably needs to change body as soon as possible. And you must remember what a genius Sasuke was as a genin. Can you then imagine the level he might be at now. Don't you think it would be hard for somebody who can't move to locate a Sasuke who doesn't want to be found?" Jiraiya asked him as an explanation.

"And Naruto knows?" Kakashi asked.

"Yes, he knows" Jiraiya answered. Kakashi nodded, that would make sense. Before they left Naruto was nagging about Sasuke all the time and he hadn't even mentioned him once since they came back.

"How long have you known?" Kakashi continued.

"Since before we came back from our training trip" Jiraiya answered.

"Nani? You have known for that long and haven't said anything?" Kakashi said flabbergasted.

"Well, you haven't asked have you?" Jirayia replied.

"You expect me to just prance up to and ask if Orochimaru might have some trouble with Sasuke?" Kakashi said sarcasticly. Jiraiya chukled a little bit and Kakashi joined in after a while.

"No, I did tell Tsunade when we returned. I just didn't think that I should go around and tell everyone" Jiraiya then said sounding more serious, but still happy.

"Even though I think that you should have told me – his old teacher – I can understand why you kept quiet" Kakashi said with a sigh before he once more looked in to the fire. They sat quiet like that for a while until Kakashi thought of something.

"By the way, you didn't answer my first question. How did you find Tori?" Kakashi asked breaking the silence.

"Yeah, forgot about that one" Jiraiya replied with a small chuckle before he continued. "Well, as you know I went in to Earth Country and also all the way up to Rock Village. Now there I met somewhat of a problem. It would be pretty hard fpr me just to enter it, so I had to use my stealth and enter at nigh without them noticing. Now that made it somewhat more difficult since I couldn't gather information the usual way anymore" here Kakashi chuckled a little bit at the thought of Jiraiya's despair. It sometimes seemed as if he needed that information gathering with all the girls to function properly.

"Well, after some searching in the darkness of the night I finally found the compound of the Bakudan clan – and let me say, that place was strange. The whole lot seemed obsessed with art of some sort. Mostly very weird art, what I understood it from they consider short-lived things, such as explosions, as art. They seek that beauty of something that only exists for a moment" Jiraiya explained.

"Wait, did you say that they had mouths on their hand which they use to chew exploding clay?" Kakashi interrupted.

"Yeah"

"Doesn't one of the Akatsuki have that ability?" Kakashi wondered.

"Yes, actually he does. He comes from that clan and he is in fact the brother of Tori" Jiraiya answered his question.

"He is Tori's brother?" Kakashi asked shocked.

"He is indeed. Apparently he became a rough ninja at some point, then after a few years his family received the message that he had died – I'm guessing that's about when he joined the Akatsuki" Jiraiya explained further.

The next morning they continued their traveling in the same speed as the earlier day. The day went by just as fast and smoothly as the earlier one and they soon came to a stop for the night again. They continued this way for two more days until they at Twilight reached the border to Earth Country.

They stood there at the border looking over it in to the rocky landscape of the Earth Country.

"So, when do we enter?" Rin asked out loud breaking the silence.

"Tomorrow morning, we are after all going to go under cover as civilians" Jiraiya answered her question.

"Well then, should we make up camp?" Sakura said being the second one to break the silence. The rest of them agreed with her and they started to make up camp for their last night before entering enemy territory.

**A/N: So, they are of towards Earth country to get Tori. Hope you're not too angry at me for the short chapter, please review anyway **


	25. The Hyuuga clash

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto**

**A/N: So this chapter took quite some time '**

**Didn't manage to finish it last week probably because I was so exited over the fact that I went to my first convention xD**

**I finished this chapter today so I haven't had time to read it through yet, I just feel that I want to get it up now since I am free from school the rest of the week so I would probably not be able to upload until next Monday.**

Chapter 25: The Hyuuga clash

Hinata walked down the road from the Hokage building. Team 8 had just been on a mission briefing. They were going the next morning. It would be a fairly easy mission. It was a C-class mission that in reality probably was under their capacity.

Because of Kurenai and her still secret pregnancy however they got an easy one. Even though it was supposed to be a secret and it still wasn't visible the rest of team eight had found out.

Hinata had seen all the small tell-signs that mostly women could see and even without that she had only needed one look with her Byakugan to be sure.

Shino's bugs had just as easily as Hinata's eyes been able to notice the change in their teacher.

Kiba had been the first to realize something was different – he said that Kurenai had smelled really funny – still yet he was the last one to figure out exactly what it was.

Hinata thought about her teacher's state and smiled. She was really happy for Kurenai and longed for the day she would be in the same position. She wondered and hoped that it would be with Naruto.

--

She walked to the Hyuuga compound and to her room. On the way she saw Neji training in the dojo. Usually she would greet him. Now however she just looked at him sadly as she passed him. Neji just continued to train oblivious of Hinata.

They still yet hadn't talked since Hinata stood up for herself. She feared that he was still angry with her so she hadn't dared to speak to him.

She walked to the rest of the way to her room deep in thoughts about the situation with Neji. She was actually so deep in thought that she didn't notice the member of the Branch family who was walking towards her from the other direction until she walked in to him.

"I'm so sorry" she said as when she stumbled backwards.

"That is alright, it was my fault Hinata-sama" the man said with a bow. Hinata - who had never liked that part of being a part of the main family - still after 15 years hadn't figured out how to react in this situation.

"Hiashi-sama which to see you Hinata-sama" the man then said as he bowed and before she could reply he had disappeared.

She stood there for a while before she started to walk towards her father's office. She wondered what he might want her. For some reason she felt as if she should be able to figure it out. Still yet she couldn't. As she entered his office he was sitting behind a desk writing on something. She went and stood quietly in front of his desk waiting for him to look up. After a while he put the pen away and looked up at her.

"Hinata" he said sounding stern.

"Good day Otou-sama" she answered, feeling how she tensed up. Whatever it was that he wanted it probably wasn't good according to her.

"I need to talk to you about a certain … rumor … you could call it. At least that is what I hope it is" he said as he stood up. He walked around the desk and stood in front of her.

"What rumor is this Otou-sama?" she asked him.

"Somebody told me that you have been … associating … with a certain Uzumaki Naruto" he answered her question. She felt how something dropped inside of her. She should have known that he wanted to talk about that.

"I have now called you here hoping that you will tell me this is not true" he continued when she didn't say anything. Instead she was just standing there, staring at him in dread.

"Please, Hinata, tell me that this is not true" he basically demanded of her. She looked down from him to the floor and mumbled something.

"Excuse me, I didn't catch that" he told her with a slight hint of venom in his voice. Because of her stance he suspected that it was, in fact, true.

"Gomenasai" she mumbled again only this time loud enough for him to hear.

"For what?" he asked her, some more venom in his voice this time.

"It is true, I am associating with Naruto-kun" she answered still yet not managing to look up and in to his eyes. Because of that she couldn't tell his reaction to what he said. So she stood there waiting for his answer.

"You are not aloud to do such a thing anymore" he said after a while sounding as if he barely was able to contain himself. He then turned around and walked back to the desk to sit down again. She still stood there staring at the floor.

"Dismissed" he said in a tone that told her there was no discussion. Still yet she didn't move.

"I love him Otou-sama" she said without looking up. She could hear his sharp intake of oxygen at her statement.

"Take. That. Back" he told her.

"No" she replied looking up from the floor for the first time. She met his gaze square in the eyes, in someway daring to do so.

"What?" he asked her surprised and angry as he stood up quickly – he definitely wasn't used to Hinata defying him.

"I won't take my words back" she said sounding extremely defying.

"And why not may I ask?" he asked her.

"Because I love him" she repeated her self. Hiashi sighed and looked down at the table.

"I thought that you would be more reasonable than this Hinata" he said in a disappointed tone. Hinata just stood there looking at him, once again feeling that weird freedom she felt when she defied Neji.

"I hoped I wouldn't have to come to this. Nobody is after all aloud to talk about it. Still yet, since you have grown stubborn, I will have to. Do you know the secret of Uzumaki Naruto? Why he was treated the way he was by every grown-up in this village?" he asked her as he calmly sat down and started regarding her. She grew stern, so he was going o use that now? He was planning on letting her know of the Kyuubi and change her mind that way.

"If you are referring to the Kyuubi, then yes I am aware of it" she replied. He looked somewhat shocked.

"So you still love him despite him being a demon?" he asked her, his voice full of contempt.

"He is not a demon!" she claimed.

"He is not? Then what is he?" Hiashi asked her taken aback.

"The Kyuubi was merely sealed inside of him to save all of us. If it wasn't for him the Kyuubi could have killed all of us" She answered his question.

He was actually somewhat impressed. For the first time in her life she had defied him. Even though he didn't like it particularly much he still yet knew it was good for her. It also meant that she was growing strong in herself and if she did that the Hyuuga council wouldn't be able to say she was too weak to be the heiress anymore.

Maybe her trial was soon to be over.

"So you mean that it was Uzumaki Naruto who saved us from the Kyuubi?" he asked her arching an eyebrow.

"No, Yondaime saved us. He did however for some reason decide to seal it inside of Naruto-kun. Because of that Naruto-kun is a part of saving Konoha and not some demon haunting the village" she answered his question holding her head up high. He smiled a little bit at her. She looked suspicious at him, she hadn't expected a smile.

"You truly do love him, don't you?" he asked her, his voice suddenly sounding gentle.

"Yes I do" she answered, still a little surprised and suspicious.

"Then I guess there isn't much I can do about it is there" he said with a smile as he sat down and started writing again. She just stood there looking at him shocked. He looked up after a while.

"Hinata, I'm happy that you stood up for yourself. That is what you need to learn in order to become stronger. If now Uzumaki Naruto can bring that out of you I will not hold you from meeting him" he told her with a smile. She smiled surprised back at him.

"You mean that Otou-sama?" she asked him. He just nodded.

"Arigatou" she said happily as she ran around the desk to hug him.

"No need to exaggerate now is there" he said to her, his voice suddenly as monotone as it usually was. When she stood up however he smiled at her. She smiled back.

"You're right Otou-sama" she answered before she went out of the room, a large smile playing on her lips.

Hinata had never experienced such a feeling.

That wonderful feeling of absolute freedom. Knowing that it is you, and truly you, who decides what you can and can not do. She had only once before stood up for herself that way, only a few days ago she had done it to Neji. Only that time hadn't gone as well as this, because of that she had panicked at that time. Now however she didn't. She felt happy and relieved instead.

* * *

The next morning team 8 set out as planned on their C-ranked mission. They were planned to return in a day's time. When they had set out Hiashi made his way to Neji's room.

He walked up to the door an knocked on it, waiting for Neji to open it for him.

"Hiashi-sama" Neji said sounding somewhat shocked as he bowed.

"Hello Neji" Hiashi greeted him as Neji stepped aside letting Hiashi to enter the room.

"I need to speak to you about Hinata" Hiashi told Neji as he walked pass his nephew.

"What is it about Hinata-sama?" Neji asked him.

"Well more exactly it is about Hinata and Uzumaki Naruto" Hiashi replied. Neji's eyes got a little bit wider for the split of a second before containing himself again.

"I'm sorry Hiashi-sama. I have tried talking to Hinata-sama but she jut won't listen to me" Neji apologized as he bowed to Hiashi.

"I was coming here to tell you that you can stop your tries" Hiashi stated as he turned around and looked at Neji. The Hyuuga prodigy looked confused.

"What do you mean Hiashi-sama?" he asked perplexed.

"I have noticed your dismay towards Hinata and Uzumaki Naruto's relationship. And I now ask you to stop your tries in convincing Hinata to stop seeing him" Hiashi answered the question.

"What?" Neji asked him flabbergasted. Was Hiashi really saying this about his daughter?

"I had a little talk with Hinata yesterday. And I can only say that she convinced me to let her see him" Hiashi answered Neji.

"Bu-but Hiashi-sama" Neji stuttered out, still not able to comprehend what Hiashi had just told him.

"I know that you feel uneasy about it. I did too, especially since I know a very good reason why she shouldn't associate with Uzumaki. She however managed to convince me yesterday. For the first time Neji my daughter stood up for herself against me. That was exactly what I wanted her to do, it shows that she has grown stronger. And if Uzumaki can bring that out of her I won't hinder her from seeing him" Hiashi explained.

"You're serious?" Neji asked him.

"Yes, I am very much serious Neji" Hiashi answered.

"So just because Hinata said some stuff you trust him with your eldest daughter?" Neji asked him astonished and somewhat angry.

"No, but I trust Hinata and her judgment. You should too" Hiashi answered sounding a little bit angry him too now.

"How can I trust her judgment when she's running around with Naruto?" Neji nearly screamed now in an very un-Hyuuga like way.

"Now you just watch it Neji" Hiashi told him off. Neji quieted immediately at Hiashi's tone.

"Hinata managed to defend her decision enough to convince me, if I agree to it you are in no position to oppose her Neji" Hiashi told his nephew sounding very stern. Neji stood there quietly for a while – too shocked to speak – before he bowed to Hiashi.

"Hai Hiashi-sama" he said before he stood up again and meet his uncle's gaze. Hiashi made a small nod before he turned around and walked out of the room. He had hoped that this conversation would have gone better than this.

Neji just had too be stubborn and force Hiashi to tell Neji what to do instead of listening to his Uncle.

--

Hiashi sighed as he walked over to his office. When he came there somebody was already waiting for him standing there in the middle of the room. The Hyuuga turned around at the sound of the door, the mark on his forehead showed clearly. The man had made no attempt at hiding it. He bowed deeply to Hiashi.

"Hiashi-sama" he said before he stood up again. Hiashi merely nodded at the man as recognition.

"The Hyuuga council wishes to meet you" the man informed Hiashi.

"Okay, thank you" Hiashi said as he walked pass the man and up to his desk.

The man bowed once again before he walked out of the room.

Hiashi sat down at his desk with a sigh, trying to compose his mind before going to meet the council of the Hyuuga branch family, created to balance the power within the clan. He wondered what they might want him, he could never be sure when it came to them.

After a while he stood up again and walked out of the room. He made his way trough the compound to another door. As he reached it he stopped and knocked on it.

"Enter" could be heard from the other side of the door, and so he did.

The room he walked in to was rather large and a long table stood along the wall on the other side of the room. At the table numerous Hyuugas were sitting, all of them proudly showing off their caged-bird marks that basically looked as if they were glowing against their pale skin.

"Hiashi-sama" an old man at the center of the table said, he was clearly the head of the council.

"Hotaru-san" Hiashi said with a nod towards the man.

"We called you here to talk about your daughter Hinata-sama" a woman a little further to the left said.

"What about Hinata, Hayami-san" Hiashi asked as he turned towards the older woman.

"We have made our decision in regard to her trial Hiashi-sama" the woman answered him. Hiashi felt tense immediately. It couldn't be good if they called him her now out of the blue.

"You have? I would have thought that there should be some kind of test at the end of the trial to determine if she has grown stronger" Hiashi answer not letting his tenseness shine through to his voice.

"Well, it turned out we didn't need her to do any test Hiashi-sama" Hotaru answered his question before Hayami could. _Probably so that the woman can't say anything she will regret later on _Hiashi thought to himself.

"Are you sure that it is very wise to do it that way Hotaru-san?" Hiashi asked the man.

"We haven't been able to find any reason why our decision should be any different than it is" Hotaru answered looking Hiashi square in the eye. After a short battle between their gazes Hiashi sighed and spoke again.

"Okay, then what is the council's decision?" Hiashi asked.

"We don't find Hinata-sama fit for the title of heiress of the Hyuuga clan" Hotaru answered frankly. Hiashi felt how something dropped inside of him. Even though he had suspected their decision he had apparently still yet hoped for it to be different.

"How come?" he asked them.

"For the same reason as before the trial. We don't find her strong enough" Hotaru answered him just as frankly.

"You still don't find her strong enough?" Hiashi asked.

"No we don't" Hotaru answered. Their gazes hadn't broken since Hotaru had revealed the council's decision and by now the tension was so thick it could have been cut.

"She has however improved since the start of the trial, that should mean that with more time she would be able to become strong enough" Hiashi tried to argue with the other man.

"Well, her time's up" Hotaru answered, his voice that earlier had been blank now held some kind of smirk. As if he enjoyed seeing Hiashi in this state. Even though the head of the Hyuuga clan looked just as stoic as usual his gaze held something desperate.

"As she is the heiress to the Hyuuga clan she has time all the way to when I die or she will inherit the title of head of the clan. That means that she does have time" Hiashi replied to the other man's statement.

"She hasn't improved enough and too slow" Hotaru replied fast. It seemed as if what they say didn't really matter too much. The gazes they shoot each other told everybody else in the room that the true battle was going on between those white eyes of theirs.

"I will not accept your decision without a test to end the trial" Hiashi answered after a while. His voice held something definite. There was no questioning his decision.

"So you will just mis-use your power as Head of the clan?" Hotaru asked his sounding very smug for being a stone-faced Hyuuga.

"Whether or not Hinata will become the head of the clan is something that I and the council is to decide together. At the moment I do not agree with the council, because of that the trial time will have to go on just as earlier. I say that it goes on until we can agree to a test for her to take. If she fails the test we will find another successor and if she completes the test she will inherit the title of Head of the clan" Hiashi answered sounding as if it was all he could do not to scream at them. His voice was almost on the verge of a growl.

"We will not have another incompetent leader just because you want your precious daughter to hold the title" Hayami suddenly interrupted as she slammed her fist on to the table. Both Hiashi and Hotaru looked over at her shocked at her display of emotions. Suddenly Hiashi's eyes narrowed as he watched the woman.

"I will not tolerate this Hayami-san. The reason I want my daughter to become the Head of the clan is not because I want my precious daughter to have the leadership at all costs, but because I find her appropriate of the title" Hiashi answered his voice now a hiss.

"You never found her appropriate earlier" the woman answered him not sounding so sure anymore but still very much angry.

"That was because she used to be weak. Even Hanabi used to be stronger than her, her sister that is eight years old younger. Now however Hinata has grown strong and I think that she is just what the clan needs" Hiashi hissed back at the woman.

Hayami looked even more unsure. The mood changes were something that would have been impossible to detect for any outsider - the people in the room however was very much used to discover the small changes in the mood of a fellow Hyuuga.

"That's enough. You have made enough damage as it is Hayami-san" Hotaru answered without looking at the woman, his voice held something dismissive over it. Hiashi turned his gaze back to Hotaru again.

"I will no longer discuss this" he said as a last thing before turning his back towards them and starting to walk out of the room.

"Wait Hiashi" Hotaru said quickly standing up, too angry to use any suffix. Hiashi ignored the other man and continued on walking.

"We will not tolerate this anymore" Hotaru continued. Suddenly Hiashi felt something penetrate his torso from behind.

"How does it feel? Dying for you daughter that is" he could hear Hayami say in is ear. Hiashi coughed, feeling the taste of the blood that came out of his mouth.

"Hayami you bastard" he forced out.

"Does it feel good" Hayami asked him again.

"Yes. Dying for Hinata that is" was Hiashi's reply before all the muscles in his body went limb.

* * *

A scream could suddenly be heard echoing trough the forest. Whoever the screaming person was he or she was clearly in extreme agony.

Kurenai and Kiba's heads popped up simultaneously towards the sound. Kiba was the first to speak and when he did his voice was filled with fear.

"That's Hinata"

**A/N: A Cliffhanger, or maybe it's two of them? xD**

**Hope you're not to angry to give me any reviews because of the cliffy! :D**


	26. The way through Earth

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto**

**OMG, it seems as if I can upkoad from my home-computer OO**

**A/N: Sorry for the late update! School has been really hectic and pretty much still is. Last week was the worst though, had four major tests that week alone. I guess this is what a high-school student in america would call mid-terms. All the courses are ending and shit like that.. xD**

**But now I'm back with another chapter!**

Chapter 26: The way through Earth

Naruto woke with a start. Something just felt wrong. He was cold-sweating and breathing heavily.

"It was probably just a nightmare" he said to himself.

He looked around the tent that he was sleeping in with Kakashi and Jiraiya. The latter one had watch duty at the moment so he wasn't there. Naruto could hear Kakashi grunt low and turn in his sleeping bag.

The blond boy felt that he wouldn't be able to fall asleep again so he got up and went out of the tent. He looked over at the fire and saw that Jiraiya apparently wasn't alone there. With him was Rin sitting there watching the fire.

Both of them looked up at him when they heard him come out of the tent. Jiraiya looked as if he was eating something, what ever it was Naruto didn't really care about.

"Hi Naruto" Jiraiya greeted his apprentice as Naruto came up to the fire.

"Hi guys" Naruto answered. He got merely a grunt as a recognizion from Rin.

"So what are ya doin'?" Naruto asked happily as he plopped down with them around the fire.

"Nothing" Rin answer grumpily looing away. Jiraiya looked at Rin with something close to sympathy – or maybe it was pity – in his eyes.

"Soo… what are you doing up anyway Naruto?" Jiraiya asked Naruto after a while sounding as if he was trying to turn Naruto's attention to something else.

"Think I had a nightmare and couldn't go back to sleep" he answered with a shrug.

"Hey, how 'bout you Rin-chan?" he asked the girl as if suddenly realizing the fact that she wasn't supposed to be there.

"Something like that too" she answered low still not looking at Naruto.

"O-okay" Naruto answered looking confused at Rin.

"Hey, Rin-chan wha-" Naruto started after a while only to get interrupted by Jiraiya.

"What was the nightmare about anyway?" Jiraiya asked the younger boy with something that was clearly a fake smile. Naruto looked at him slightly disoriented for a while before he answered.

"Eeh, don't really remember" he said.

"Haha, that is so much like you" Jiraiya laughed – not convincing what so ever – as he dunked Naruto in the back.

The old man looked as if he was laughing his ass of just because Naruto didn't remember what his nightmare was about. Naruto's eyebrow twitched at how weird his teacher was acting.

He looked over to Rin to get her quiet consent that Jiraiya was crazy. She was however not even looking at Jiraiya. Naruto's expression turned in to a conserned one as he watched the red haired girl. He walked over to her ignoring Jiraiya that by now was choking on whatever he had been eating.

"Rin-chan" he said to the side of her face.

"Hnn" he got as a reply.

"What's wrong?" he asked her softly.

"Nothing" she answered.

"I can see that something's wrong Rin-chan" he replied to it still just as softly.

"Really it's not something important Naruto" she continued on stating.

That was when he knew that there really was something troubling her. She never called him Naruto unless she was troubled over something. It didn't really matter if it was something important or not, as long as something troubled her she never had the energy to call him Teinousha. That unnerved him, what could it be that troubled her at the moment?

"Rin" he said, his voice was still soft, yet but it held something definite over it.

She flinched slightlyat the sound. Even though none of them ever acted that way he still yet was the one in control over her when it was for real. She had wondered how come she just gave in when he sounded only slightly angry. After a while however she had just accepted the fact that he was the one in charge in their friendship, almost as if she was his younger sister.

"Naruto, please" she said, her voice was barely more than a whisper. Suddenly Naruto's approach changed as he clasped his hands toghether as if he was praying. At the same time he got down on his knees infront of her.

"Please, please, please Rin-chan" he pleaded with puppyeyes. Rin laughed and smiled at him. For her it was so much easier to say no when he was goofed around like that, this was something that he knew of. For him to act like this was like saying that she didn't need to tell him unless she wanted to.

"I won't tell you Teinousha" she said trying to sound irritated without succeeding very much, instead she sounded somewhat playful.

When she spoke she jumped up from her spot so that she was standing some way away from him. She positioned her nose high in the air as if she found herself important.

"Please, please, please" he repeated himself, walking up to her on his knees.

Suddenly Jiraiya shot up from the ground gasping violently for air. They both looked at him shocked as he desperately fought for air. Neither of them made a move to help the old man as he coughed away, instead they just stood there ine the same position with Naruto kneeling on the ground in front of Rin. When Jiraiya finally had seemed to regain the ability to breath properly he looked at Naruto and spoke.

"Stop pestering her about it. She clearly doesn't want to tell you how she feels about the whole situation with Sa-" suddenly he got interrupted. Rin had shot out a string of chakra and clamped the end of it over Jiraiya's mouth.

"The whole situation with what?" Naruto asked, being curious once again. Rin just shot him a sad look and he understood.

"Sorry, I didn't think" he said as he slowly waved his hand infront of him in an apologizing way.

Rin smiled at him shortly before turning to Jiraiya again.

He was still laying there with her chakra over his mouth that unabled him to breathe. She glared at the practically helpless man - it was hard to believe that he was one of the three legendary Sannin.

Rin walked over to him, releasing her hold on his mouth as she reached him. He immediately gasped for air a second time. Rin stood there and looked at him for a while before she kicked him once in the stomache and then walked over to the girls' tent. Naruto just looked at Jiraiya, shook his head.

"tsk, tsk, tsk you really should stop agrevate her" Naruto said before he walked pass Jiraiya – who was still laying on the ground desperately trying to breathe – and to their tent.

--

Rin cursed to herself as she undressed for a second time that day.

"Damn Jiraiya-sensei" she said as she tossed her shirt aside.

If she had been just a fraction of a second slower Naruto would have known that she had been talking about Sasuke with Jiraiya. Luckily the Teinousha was so dense that he wouldn't be able to figure it out by just the first two letters.

Why had Jiraiya said anything anyway? Naruto hadn't even been pestering when the older man spoke up.

She sighed to herself as she stood there in the tent in her pants and bra. For some reaon she looked down on her seal. In difference to Naruto she didn't have her seal on her stomache. Instead her seal was placed above her breast – the reason why she had a polo-shirt; it was the only kind that cowered the thing.

She slowly traced the spiral seal with her index-finger. Even though she might not be acursing her own seal as much as Naruto was his she still yet often wondered what she had done to deserve such a thing?

Had she done something wrong in an earlier life?

She sighed a second time before she quickly took off the rest of her clothes and went to bed again.

* * *

The next morning they packed away their usual clothes and put on civilian ones.

"Damn thing" Naruto said as he struggeled with his obi.

"What are you doing baka?" Sakura asked him.

"I'm trying to fix this damn thing" Naruto said as he desperately fought with the piece of clothing. Sakura sighed irritated before walking over to him.

"Stand still" she told him as she grabbed his arms holding him still focusing a bit of chakra to make sure that it would be impossible for him to move against her strength.

"I'll help you" she told him boring her gaze in to his eyes making her offer of help more in to an order. Naruto merely nodded at her. With Sakura's help the thing was done in just a few seconds. Afterwards Naruto sretched awkwardly.

"What is it now?" Sakura asked him irritated.

"It's hard to move in these damn clothes" he answered as he continued on stretching. Sakura just sighed at him and walked over to the girls' tent again to continue on packing.

She was actually curious about Kakashi and how he would solve the whole 'cover up his face' thingy.

"Wonder how Kakashi-sensei will do it" she said to Rin as they both packed their things.

"What do you mean?" Rin asked the other girl looking up from her bag.

"Well with his face and all, how will he cover it up without looking suspicious" Sakura said arching an eyebrow knowingly with a smirk at Rin. The red haired girl looked a little surprised at first before she smirked back at Sakura just as knowingly.

When the girls had packed everything they went out of their tent hoping that Kakashi was finished. To their dismay Jiraiya said that he was still in their tent packing, apparently he had shooed Jiraiya and Naruto out of the tent saying that he needed some time alone.

"Acting like a damn woman" They could hear Jiraiya mumble as he fixed with the fire.

The two girls sighed as they moved on to packing their tent.

When the tent finally was packed away Kakashi walked out of the other one. The girls looked up when they heard the tentflap open. Out stepped Kakashi, he had an eye-patch to cover up his Sharingan and instead of the ususal mask his face was now covered in bandage.

"What the..." Sakura said as she looked at the man.

"What is it Sakura-chan?" Kakashi asked her sounding innocent.

"Er... No nothing Kakashi-sensei" Sakura said waving her hands in front of her face when she finally snapped out of her slight shock.

"Okay, good" Kakashi said as he started to dig through his bag after something.

"Will you take that long every morning Kakashi-taicho?" Rin asked him.

"No, I just needed to learn how to bandage my face once" he answered without looking up.

"You know Kakahsi-sensei. I'm a medic I could've helped you" Sakura said sounding slightly disappointed with him.

"Hn" was all he replied as he finally managed to get up the book he had been looking for. That orange book that often did an even better job at covering his face than the mask did.

Sakura sighed at him knowing that she wouldn't be able to get an answer out of him now.

* * *

When they had packed everything and removed every trace that they had spent the night there they started to move again.

They managed to cross the border - in their civilian yukatas and appereance – and to the first town without any problem. It had taken nearly all day to get there.

"So, we should find a place to stay" Jiraiya said as they entered the town.

"What, but it's barely dark Ero-sennin" Naruto complained.

"Yes, but we won't be able to get to the next town until tomorrow" The Toad Sage answered tryng to sound calm.

"So, we don't need to sleep in town" Naruto tried to argue. Jiraiya sighed irritated at the nearly stupid boy.

"We're civilians, remember Teinousha?" Rin basically whipered in his ear, remembering him about the fact that they weren't traveling the usual way.

"Oh, yeah right" he said as if he suddenly rememebered. The rest of them shook their heads at him and his stupidity. He laughed nerveously as he scratched his neck with his elbow sticking up in the air.

They managed to find an inn to stay at fairly quickly. In difference to their last mission they weren't eight people and a huge dog. They were only five people, if you could call that number only. They were at least not in a town that had a bunch of visitors because of an 'exotic week' so this time they could even get two rooms.

* * *

The days continued in this boring way for two more days. Naruto was bored to death by traveling this way and longed for some exitment. So as Sakura spoke up that time he welcomed her words, well at least for a short time.

"I can sense chakra-signatures heading this way" Sakura broke the silence speaking in an normal tone.

"Shinobi?" Jiraiya asked her, sounding just as calm as she did.

"Yes, low-level Shinobi" Sakura answered.

"Finally a little action here" Naruto said sounding exited.

"They're not too many, so keeping up the charade shouldn't be too hard" Sakura continued, ignoring the blond knucklehead.

"Huh?" Naruto looked confused. "Charade?" he then added. Sakura looked over at him annoyed.

"We are still acting as civilians" she said with a tired sigh.

"Yeah, and?" Naruto asked them still not understanding what the problem was.

"Which means we can't fight them as we normally would since that would mean we would blow our cover" Kakashi answered before Sakura could. At the same time the man put away the orange book again knowing that he now probably would have to stay focused.

"What? We can't fight?" Naruto asked them sounding almost desperate.

"Not properly at least" Kakahi answered him in a bored tone. Naruto sighed in despair and hunched in an exaggerated way.

"Up with your chin, they're coming now" Sakura said happily.

The next moment two men suddenly stood in front of them blocking their way. What shocked every single one of them was the fact that they wore ANBU masks. All of them froze and looked at the two men.

"I thought you said low-level Shinobi" Kakashi said through gritted teeth to Sakura.

"That's not them" she answered sounding slightly panicked.

"What?" Kakashi asked back.

"The low-level shinobi is still hiding, too afraid to come out at the moment because of those guys - which I couldn't feel until I saw them stand there" Sakura answered still as panicked.

"But I thought that there were no way to hide from you" Kakashi said, thinking about Sakura's newly found kekkai-genkai.

"Apparently they managed" she answered.

Suddenly one of the men standing there started to walk towards them calmly. He was wearing what looked like a cat-mask. All of them was still just standing there. Even if they probably would have been able to beat two ANBU shinobi, with Kakashi and Jiraiya there, they didn't want to blow their cover.

"State your business" the man with the mask said to them as he came closer.

All of them relaxed slightly at his words, he wasn't there to kill them, unless he needed to of course.

Jiraiya stepped forwards slightly to speak. The man turned his gaze towards the white haired man without loosing any focus from the rest of the group and their actions.

"We are just traveling through here" Jiraiya said as he looked at the shinobi.

"You do look as normal travelers. Where are you going?" the masked shinobi continued asking them.

"The Hidden Stone Village" Jiraiya answered him.

"Okay, follow us" the man replied before he turned around and started to walk.

They looked at each other a little confused before they reluctantely followed the two shinobi. Sakura felt how the low-level shinobi she felt earlier followed them from the shadows.

"This village is at the moment under a threat so the Tsuchikage sent out a group of shinobi to protect the village" cat mask explained as he and the other man – carrying a Owl mask – led the way.

As they went over a smaller hill the village presented itself in front of them. It was a rather large village that seemed to house many rich people. There didn't seem to be any real order to how the houses were placed. It seemed more as if people had just put houses there where they had wanted to, and eventually it grew in to a town. The two men stopped suddenly, cat mask turned to Jiraiya once more.

"You are now within the safe area and may continue on your own. If you excuse us we must go and take care of the small fry that accompanied us from the safety of the shadows" he told them.

"Somebody was following us?" Sakura asked him surprised.

"Yes, I did not wish to alarm you. There was however nothing to wory of and there is not anything now either. So, please just continue in to town" he answered her question.

"Of course sir" Jiraiya said with a slight bow before continuing towards the town. The others in the group followed his example and bowed to the shinobi.

When they had walked a little bit Naruto stretched himself and spoke.

"That went easy" he sounded relieved.

"You shouldn't speak too early about that" Jiraiya said to him.

"Huh?" Naruto sounded.

"Since the village is under surveience there is bound to be shinobi in town as well. Doing the cover thing even harder for us. Especially if they suspect anything, in that case we won't have any choice but to blow it" Jiraiya answered the sound. He didn't look at Naruto as he spoke but kept his gaze forward.

Just as Jiraiya foretold the village was filled with shinobi, there to protect it.

They had to think twice about every decision. How to walk, talk, act and even breathe sometimes.

This was really straining Naruto and his already bored mind together with his chakra control. Since some of the shinobi there to protect the town was high-level shinobi they had to hide their chakra as well as possible. This was not something easy for Naruto with his bad chakra control and extreme amount of chakra so when they finally went to bed that night he fell asleep immediately.

The next day thay went up early and made sure to get out of the town quickly, not wanting to stay there and wanting to continue on towards the Hidden Stone Village.

They traveled for four more days because of the slow way of traveling. Pretending to act as civilians really unabled you to travel particulary fast.

After those four days however they finally managed to reach their destination.

The Hidden Stone Village was created for war. Thick walls surrounded the town, in the middle of it stood the Tsuchikage tower, clearly visible above all the other houses. The town was built with the highest buildings in the middle and the lowest along the wall surroundning it. In that way, it didn't matter which roof you stood on, you could still see out of the village.

They walked up to the gateways where two shinobi – probably chuunin-level – sat, just as in Konoha. They walked up to the booth where they sat.

"Hello, we are travelers here to do business with some of the Bakudan-clan" Jiraiya said with a slight bow, which the rest of the group mimicked.

"Hello, if you please would sign your names here first" one of the men sitting there said as he put a book with a pencil in front of them on the table.

"Hai" Jiraiya said as he picked up the pencil and wrote down a false name, then giving the pencil to Kakashi who did the same. They had already decided on names, which they had used during their entire time in Earth Country. When they had all written their names the man stood up and spoke.

"Hai" he looked at the book in his hand before continuing "Yamehada-san, the compound of the Bakudan-clan. This is how you get to it" he said looking at Jiraiya before starting to explain how to get to the housing of Tori's clan.

It didn't take too long before they managed to find their way to the compound. It didn't look extra ordinary or anything, just a large place that could house a large family.

"Okay, so here's where the cover ends tonight?" Sakura asked out loud as they stood and watched the building.

"Hai" Jiraiya answered her. Suddenly they could hear a huge boom to their right. Extreme heat radiated from the same place making their skin dry up as they turned their heads. Rolling their way was a huge explosion threatening to engulf them in its heat.

**A/N: Another Cliffhanger! Plus the fact that the one from the last chapter still stands ;)**

**I don't know about next chapter, but chapter 28 will probably take a little time before I manage to finish.. I'm still yet not entirely sure about all the details. I'm pretty much not sure about any of the details '**

**Anyway please review! They truly make my day and skyrocket my will for writing!**

**So any one of you who noticed anything similar to Eragon?  
It wasn't really something I planned as a fun thing, rather I was low on imagination... **


	27. Tsunade's memory

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto**

**A/N: Another chapter here D. This and the next chapter was originally meant to be one chapter, when I noticed how long that would have been though I decided to divide them in to two chapters. So the next chapter shouldn't take as long as usual. (shouldn't)**

Chapter 27: Tsunade's memory

Kurenai was sitting there in a the chair beside Hinata's bed.

Team eight had been out on an easy tracking mission.

On the first day away however Hinata collapsed, screaming in agony. She had been bleeding out off her eyes. Fortunately they hadn't gotten very far, so they had been able to rush her back to Konoha and the hospital there. She had been treated for chakra loss and her eyes.

Now, three days later, she was still laying unconscious with a piece of cloth covering her eyes. As soon as she had gotten stable Kiba and Shino had been sent out to finish the mission on their own. Kurenai had stayed behind to watch over Hinata.

The young Hyuuga girl grunted and winced as she lay there. Kurenai tensed looking at the girl for any sign of her waking up. When Hinata's body relaxed again Kurenai followed suit. It wasn't the first false alarm during these three days and the genjutsu-expert had gotten somewhat used to them by now.

Every time they came she both felt relieved and afraid. Revealed that the girl was waking up again. Afraid of what she was going to have to tell Hinata.

Hyuuga Hiashi was dead.

He had been killed by Hyuuga Hayami, a member of the Hyuuga Branch family council. They said that Hayami had been under a strong genjutsu at the moment and was deeply depressed over her actions. Kurenai didn't know whether or not to believe it.

The door opened and Asuma stepped in. He shoot a smile to Kurenai as he walked over to her holding a bottle of water and a cup of coffee in his hands.

"Here you go honey" he said as he handed her the water. He bent down for a quick kiss before settling in a chair next to the woman.

"Anything new on her condition?" he asked her before he sipped on his coffee only to get burned, almost spilling the entire content of the cup in his panic.

"Ao, shit that hurt" he said as he put the cup away so that he could try to dry his shirt with a piece of paper. As usual when you spill something as coffee his efforts to dry it was in vain, still yet he tried. Kurenai laughed silently a little bit at him before answering his question.

"Nothing new" Asuma sighed at her words. They sat there quietly for a while before Kurenai spoke up again.

"It just seems so weird, that she just started bleeding from her eyes like that"

"Yeah I know" Asuma answered.

"I guess when you're a shinobi you never know when an old injure – that you might not have noticed earlier – will catch up to you" he then added.

"No, it wasn't like that" Kurenai answered quickly before continuing after a while, sounding more despondent.

"Her scream, it sounded as if she was being tortured in an extreme way. I've never heard anything like it before" Asuma rubbed her back, soothing the woman.

Suddenly Hinata moved again. This time however she raised one of her hands to the cloth over her eyes, feeling over it. Kurenai hurried to stand by her side.

"Hinata-chan, how are you feeling?" she asked the girl removing her hand from the cloth.

"K-kurenai-sensei. Is that you?" Hinata asked sounding slightly frightened.

"Yes, it's me Hinata-chan" Kurenai answered her apprentice, sounding very much like a mom speaking to her own child.

"What's happening Kurenai-sensei?" Hinata asked her.

"You're at the hospital in Konoha, you have been unconscious for three days" Kurenai answered.

Suddenly two nurses entered the room. One of went to all the machines next to the bed, seeing that everything was in its order there. The other nurse went over to Hinata, gently pushing Kurenai to the side.

"Hello Hinata-chan" she said as she grabbed Hinata's wrist and looking at her watch at the same time, counting Hinata's pulse.

"H-hello" Hinata answered a little insecure.

"My name's Hana-chan, I'm a nurse" the woman continued in a gentle and still yet professional tone.

"Do your body feel heavy? Are you exhausted in any way?" Hana started asking Hinata.

"N-no" Hinata asked.

"Good, do your eyes hurt in any way?" she continued as she gently pressed a hand against Hinata's forehead.

"They, feel a little bit sore I guess" Hinata answered, still sounding just as insecure.

"Okay, that is to be expected" Hana answered.

"Shizune-san, the med-nin that has the responsibility over your case will soon arrive and tell you of your condition" Hana then said gently before the two medics left again.

Kurenai and Asuma had just stood there shocked the whole time, barely noticing anything had happened before the two nurses had already left again.

Basically before the door could close again Shizune was in the room, walking up to Hinata.

"Hello Hinata-chan" she said.

"H-hello" Hinata answered.

"Do you remember anything of what happened?" Shizune asked her as she sat down in a chair close to Hinata's head.

"N-no, not much. Just that suddenly my eyes started to hurt" Hinata answered.

"Okay, well the thing is that something happened to your chakra-pathways. They suddenly changed very quickly. This is something that can hurt very much if it happens if your chakra-pathways are already established. That was where the pain came from, at the same time that was why you were bleeding out of your eyes" Shizune explained.

"What? So my chakra-pathways changed? But how is that possible?" Hinata asked her sounding scared.

"We don't know yet, it was however only the pathways to your eyes" Shizune replied.

"My eyes? But, what will happen to my eyes?" Hinata continued asking.

"We don't know yet" Shizune answered calmly before she continued explaining.

"At the same time that your chakra-pathways were changed something used up almost all of your chakra immediately. Therefore the reason why you were out for three days"

"O-okay" Hinata said, in the loss of any other reply.

"Okay, Hinata-chan, I will now remove the bandage around your eyes" Shizune then said. Hinata nodded her head as a reply before Shizune lifted up her headand gently started to undo the bandage. Once the long cloth was gone Hinata's eyes hurt from the light a short while. Once her eyes had readjusted she blinked them a little bit looking around.

"How do they feel?" Shizune asked her.

"It feels… normal" Hinata answered a little bit unsure at first what she should answer.

"That's good, now you will rest for today as well and tomorrow we will see how your eyes react once you activate your Byakugan" Shizune told her before she made her exit.

* * *

That night, as Hinata laid there in her hospital bed, she thought about what had happen during the mission. Of how she and Shino had just walked there trying to find a trace when suddenly, a pain that emitted from her eyes surged through her body.

The strange thing however with her memory of the happening was the moments before and during the pain. During that very short amount of time her sight increased. Her Byakugan had already been activated, still yet she saw even better right then. During those mere moments it had felt as if there had been nothing she couldn't see.

The whole thing was so strange she wondered if she hadn't just imagined the whole thing.

* * *

Next day, as Hinata was eating her hospital lunch, Shizune and Tsunade entered the room.

"Tsu-tsunade-sama" Hinata said a little shocked as she hurried to bow her head, unable to bow properly as she was sitting on a bed.

"Hello Hinata-chan" Tsunade greeted her as she walked over to the girl.

"Hi there Hinata-chan" Shizune shot in with a smile.

"H-hi Shizune-san" Hinata said when she finally managed to understand what happened.

"So, how do your eyes feel today?" Tsunade asked her then.

"T-they feel fine" Hinata said, smiling a little bit.

"That's good" Tsunade replied to that.

"Then, of you could activate your Byakugan shortly" Tsunade then continued.

"Hai" Hinata said before activating her kekkei-genkai. She looked around the room with her now nearly perfect sight.

"Does anything feel different from before?" Tsunade asked her.

"No" Hinata said as she shook her head.

"Okay, then I'm going to check your chakra-flow so everything seems right" Tsunade said as she stood up ans put her hands to Hinata's temples.

She infused a little bit of her healing chakra to check if it could easily go trough Hinata's chakra system.

To her surprise the pathways seemed wider than before, making it easier for the chakra to flow through. Otherwise everything was at it had always been.

Suddenly an idea popped through her head. Something from an scroll she read a long time ago – when she was still a medic student – about the Hyuuga clan and their superior eyes.

"Hinata-chan, could you try to concentrate more chakra in to your eyes?" she asked the girl.

--

"Okay" Hinata said sounding slightly confused before she did as Tsunade said.

Just as Tsunade she also found it to her surprise that her chakra seemed to flow easier.

As she pumped in more chakra than had earlier been possible everything around her started to get more prominent. Slowly her sight started to improve.

--

At the same time Tsunade and Shizune could see how Hinata's her started to glow slightly and then increased more and more in strength.

When her eyes then losed their usual lavender colored tint to grow completely white and then silver Tsunade suddenly remembered.

In an old scroll about the Hyuuga clan she had read about a special kind of Byakugan. She only remembered vaguely its name and abilities.

The thing that had gotten stuck in her memory was the way to obtain this ultimate Byakugan. Somebody had to die because of you. You weren't supposed to kill anybody, just be the reason for their death.

--

Hinata felt how her energy quickly was drained in the same rate as her eyesight improved. Her eye locks started to grew heavy and the darkness of sleep seemed extremely alluring. In fact, it was too alluring to withstand the darkness called sleep.

--

Shizune saw how the glow in Hinata's eyes started to fade as the girl's eyes started to drift together.

She looked at Tsunade and saw how the Hokage was standing there fazed-out. The black-haired woman sighed at her boss as she looked over to the girl again. Almost too late as well.

At the moment Hinata was unconscious, her body was slowly bending to soon falling of the bed fast. Shizune hurried over to capture Hinata's body just as she was almost halfway down the bed. Shizune struggled for a while, trying to get Hinata back on the bed.

"A little help here?" she basically asked Tsunade as she looked up. Instead of seeing her boss stand there as she had expected she saw the fleeing back of her. The blond pigtails flapping behind her back. Shizune sighed, was her sake really that alluring?

--

Tsunade hurried down the corridors of the hospital after she had gotten her epiphany.

She scrambled through her head every possible place for the old scroll about the Hyuuga. Clearly she hadn't read the original – something the Hyuuga clan most surely held on to tight.

That meant the copy she head read was probably still here. That it was property of the Konoha hospital.

This was normal, every clan had given a copy of their most treasured scroll to the hospital. In case the knowledge would prove necessary for a medic one day. Just like this time.

She rushed to the archives. Barely dodging several people on the way, not caring to even calling out sorry afterwards.

She reached the old archives and entered.

The room pretty much consisted of solely large bookshelves that stood at right angle to the wall opposite to the one with the door.

The self right in front of her supported a sign with the letter M. she looked to the left to see the letter N. Out of that she understood that the shelf she was looking for was probably located right to where she was standing.

She ran down along the wall until she reached the sign with the letter H.

She skimmed the shelves until she saw the place where everything that had to do with the Hyuuga clan was located. It took up to twenty minutes for her to sort out the scroll she needed.

When she finally found it she blew away the dust planning to smile at herself. The dust however, wasn't planning on that. No, it blew up in her face, making her cough furiously instead. She waved her hands as she stood up and walked out of the archive, coughing.

--

When Shizune had managed to get Hinata back up on the bed – and done the paperwork Tsunade had originally come there to do – she walked back to the Hokage Tower.

Surprised that Tsunade wasn't there she grabbed TonTon and walked out in the city, looking for the blond Hokage.

Knowing the blond woman she checked every place that sold sake. As expected she found her at a table in the second place.

When Shizune saw her however she stopped just out of Tsunade's sight.

There, in a booth Tsunade was sitting with a dup of warm sake in her hand as always. I

n front of her however, lied a scroll. Shizune got a feeling of Dejá vu. Where had she seen this earlier?

Yeah right. When they had arrived in Konoha about three years ago, and Lee had been so badly injured from his fight with Gaara.

--

Tsunade skimmed through the huge text looking for something about the Byakugan.

Unfortunately everything seemed to be about the Byakugan. Didn't this noble clan have anything else than their eyes to be proud of? She shook her head when she finally saw something new about their enchanted eyes.

_ShirubaByakugan_

_The eyes of a Hyuuga are those of the best kind. There is however those within the clan who carry eyes better than the rest do. These eyes can be obtained through a death. If somebody were to die because of you, the power of their last thought and action will transfer in to you eyes. Enchanting you chakra pathways so that more chakra can flow through there. _

_Those who obtain these eyes carry no flaw in their sight. Their eyes glow of silver by the chakra flowing so close behind them. Thereby the name of these marvelous eyes. _

It kept on like that, praising the Byakugan, for several pages. Afterwards there were more on how to use the ShirubaByakugan after already achieving it. This part she read through more observantly, trying to memorize it to help Hinata later.

"Finally done" she said with a happy sigh before she emptied the content of her umpth mug och warm sake. She stretched lazily as she looked outside to fins it already dark in the streets. Apparently she had read for several hours.

_That means it's time for some evening sake _she thought happily to herself as she ordered some more sake.

**A/N: I'm very sorry if you find this whole thing over exaggerated and that I'm making a bunch of Mary Sues here. I'm not trying to, this shit just happens xD**

**ShirubaByakugan: Should mean silverbyakugan. Shiruba means silver, I'm uncertain though because of the whole grammar thingy. Don't know Japanese so :P **

**Please review! :D**


	28. Hinata's tears

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto**

**A/N: So, here again a little earlier than usual this time. As I said this and the last chapter was first meant to be the same chapter. It however got too far to be fit in to one. So here's the second part.**

Chapter 28: Hinata's tears

The next day Tsunade visited Hinata again.

"Good day Hokage-sama" Hinata greeted her with a bow to her head. Still unable to do more since she was sitting in a bed.

"Good day Hinata-chan" Tsunade replied as she sat down in a chair next to Hinata's bed.

"How are you feeling today?" Tsunade then asked her.

"Still fine. Don't really know why I passed out yesterday" Hinata answered, soundingly slightly sheepish at the last statement.

"Well, that I know" Tsunade then said before she leaned back, now sitting as comfortably as you can in a chair.

"The reason has to do with your eyes and why your chakra-pathways have changed" she then added. Her elbows were resting on the chair's armrest. Her hands were entwined in front of her face and her gaze went just above them to Hinata.

"You know why they changed?" the Hyuuga girl asked surprised. Tsunade merely nooded as answer. After a while though she started to explain.

"It has to do with your Byakugan. There is an ultimate state of it. Something that is unknown, forgotten because of its rariety. It is called ShirubaByakugan. What happens is that your chakra-pathways expands to let through more chakra. When you do your eyes starts to glow silver. That is what happened yesterday" Tsunade explained.

"Shiruba... Byakugan?" was all Hinata could reply. Where did this come from? It just sounded weird.

"Yes, these eyes enchants your Byakugan and its traits. It makes your eyesight even better, in all aspects. Plus that it gives it one more trait. This trait supposedly switches from person to person, apparently it has to do with the user. Their personality gives the eyes their special trait" Tsunade carried on explaining.

"So you mean, that was why I could see so good yesterday?" Hinata asked.

"Yes, that is exactly why. Your Byakugan gets its special eyesight from the chakra which you focus in to your eyes. When this chakra increases so does your eyesight" Tsunade answered.

"But, wouldn't that mean anybody could get the eyesight of a Byakugan just from focusing chakra in to the pathways around their eyes?" Hinata then asked confused.

"Yes, it would seem that way. However, to focus chakra around your eyes and maintain it there is extremly hard and exhausting. Anybody would pass out before reaching an eyesight even near that of a Byakugan's" Tsunade explained.

"The special thing about the Byakugan is the way the pathways are formed. They are formed in such a way that they easily keep the chakra and let it stay there with little to none effort" she then added.

"Okay" Hinata nodded.

"The ShirubaByakugan allows the user to input more chakra without exhaustion. What happened yesterday however was what would have happened if a non Hyuuga would have tried to reach the effects of a Byakugan. You merely applied extra chakra to your eyes, exhausting youself"

"Then, how am I supposed to use the ShirubaByakugan?"

"You have to activate it in a special way. Just as with the Byakugan. Do you remember the first times you activated your Byakugan?" Tsunade asked Hinata.

"Hai"

"You activate the ShirubaByakugan that exact same way the first times, until your pathways grow accustomed to the ammount of chakra needed to the ShirubaByakugan" Tsunade explained. Hinata looked at her wide-eyed.

"Really?" she asked. Tsunade merely nodded.

"Now, why don't you try?" Tsunade asked her.

"Hai" Hinata closed her eyes as she performed the seals necessary.

"ShirubaByakugan" she then said as she opened them again.

As she did the veins around her now glowing eyes grew just as visible as everything else did for her.

She looked to her left at the Hokage who was at the moment sitting in a chair next to her bed.

She could easily see every little aspect of the woman's chakra. How she poured a little bit extra chakra to her head continuosly. Hinata consentrated a little bit more. That's when she saw the green characteristic color for healing chakra.

"Do you have a head-ache Hokage-sama?" Hinata then asked her, sounding conserned. Tsunade looked shocked at the girl. How could she know of her hang-over from yesterday?

"Eh, how could you..." Tsunade started, not really sure how to continue.

"You are focusing healing chakra to your head continuosly" Hinata answered. Suddenly everything looked slightly fuzzy to Hinata and she felt how she started to grow dizzy.

Instinctively she drew back the Byakugan as she put her hands up to cradle her head. Tsunade stood up immediately.

"What is it?" she asked the girl.

"Nothing, I just got a little bit dizzy" she answered.

"Okay, well I guess that is to be expected. You are after all still low on chakra after getting the ShirubaByakugan four days ago" Tsunade said as she sat down.

"Yes, Hokage-sama. About that. Do you know why I have the ShirubaByakugan?" she asked and looked up. The mention of four days ago made her remember about that. Tsunade's experssion turned grim and sad.

"The way.." she sighed before continuing "The way yo achieve the ShirubeByakugan is if somebody dies because of you" she said looking at Hinata.

"So, you mean... somebody... died... because of me?" she asked the Hokage stunned.

"Yes" Tsunade answered her.

"Who? ... and how?"

"Four days ago. Hyuuga Hayami, a memeber of the Hyuuga council, claims that she was put under a genjutsu" Tsunade tooked a small pause her dreading the words that she would have to say. Hinata looked at her with wide fearful eyes.

"She killed your father" Tsunade said with a wince.

Hinata felt how something broke inside of her.

Hyuuga Hiashi was dead?

She had recieved this power because her father had died?

She didn't notice how her eyes started to fill with tears. She was already too lost in the sorrow. Something hurt inside of her. Where her heart was sitting, it hurt. It truly hurt, she didn't know where to go. It felt as if she would brake any second now because of that pain.

She cried loudly for the first time since her mother's death. Ever since that time her father had grown more stern when it came to her. He said that it was a weakness to show you emotions, and a weak person didn't have a place as the head of the Hyuuga clan.

Because of that she had stopped crying loudly, if possible she always made sure nobody was near her when she cried. Now however the grief was far too great and far too thick for ther to withstand.

Tsunade's comforting arm around her went by unnoticed from the young girl. At the moment nothing mattered but the sadness. Nothing else could excist but that horrible feeling.

Hinata cried like that for certianly half an hour.

Then the tears suddenly stopped. Her eyes had gone dry. Still yet she wasn't fine. No, far from.

She was just sitting there staring out in to space solemnly.

They couldn't even get her to eat when they came with food. Nothing could get through to her.

In the evening when she was once again laying there in her bed everything seemed to get back to her. She looked around, seeing the room again for the first time since Tsunade had told her about Hiashi.

Realising that she had cried away the day and that it was now evening she laid down again, starting to cry silently.

Turning her head she could see the stars through the window. The image of them comforted her, thoughts of her mother and Naruto came to her. Images of moments spent watching the stars. Happy moments spent with people she loved.

Her thoughts turned to her mother, how much she had missed her when she died. How she had always wished she would still be alive. How she then had started to accept her mother's death more and more when her father started to accept Hinata more and more.

Now, here she lied in a hospital bed, her father dead. The tears increased as that burning feeling in her chest started to return. She brought up her arms and hugged herself, trying to comfort herself without any success. The feeling just increased with her silent tears.

She continued crying until sleep finally came and rescued her from her hurt. Her exhauseted state, from the crying, promised her a dream-less sleep.

The next morning she had troubled opening her eyes. Her salty tears had dried and glued her eye-lashes together.

She brought up her hands and rubbed her eyes before she opened them blinking, taking in her surrounding.

The events from the earlier day came back to her.

Her father was now dead.

She sighed heavily. At the moment she didn't have time for crying anymore.

During the night thoughts came to her. Things that couldn't get through to her in the midst of her worst sorrowThoughts about the clan and its future.

Who would lead the clan now? She jumped out of the bed and stretched. After a while she managed to locate her clothes and got dressed.

As she was walking towards the door however it opened before she could reach it. Entered did a nurse. The woman blinked surprised for a few seconds at Hinata before speaking.

"What are you doing up?" she asked.

"I was leaving" Hinata answered.

"You haven't been released yet. We need you to stay a little longer" the nurse answered.

"I can't stay any longer. I have matters to attend to" Hinata answered her. She didn't realize it at the moment, but over night she had grown a backbone apparently. She didn't even blink about the fact that she had to act rude towards the nurse or tell the woman off.

"I'm affraid that I don't care about that. Your health goes first" the woman replied. As she did she entered the room fully. She walked towards Hinata, forcing the girl to back up.

"I do not have time for this" Hinata said irritated before stepping around the woman, using her shinobi limberness.

"If you don't lie down again I will have to contact my boss" The nurse treathened her.

"I'm going to her office anyway" Hinata answered before stepping out of the room.

She peeked in through the door again however when she realised something.

"By the way. Is she here at the hospital or over at her usual office?" she asked the startled woman. The nurse just looked at her confused without answering.

"Guess I will have to find out on my own" Hinata said before retreating through the door again.

* * *

Tsunade sat in her office deep in thought. Shizune was standing by her side. The Hokage did however not find any comfort in that thought. Being the always full of morale person that Shizune was meant that Tsunade could forget everything that had anything to do with Sake at the moment. Something Tsunade didn't like having to do.

"How do you thing she will feel today?" Shizune asked after a while, breaking a heavy silence.

"I don't know" Tsunade answered truthfully.

She knew exactly who Shizune was talking of. Yesterday when Tsunade had left Hinata, the girl had still been a wreck.

The Godaime sighed heavily once before her thoughts were interrupted by a loud knock on the door. Before she could answer however the door opened. In stepped Hyuuga Hinata and another woman who was working in the building.

"I said that you need an appoinment to reach her at the moment" the woman said sounding irritated as she looked at Hinata. T

sunade looked shocked, was this really Hyuuga Hinata? Sure, it looked exactly like her when it came to appearence. When it came to aura however this looked like a whole different person.

"I'm so sorry Hokage-sama, she wouldn't listen" the woman started. She stopped when Tsunade raised her hand.

"That is alright Yume-san, you're dismissed" Tsunade said without even looking at the woman. Yume looked slightly miffed at Tsunade's words. She did however walk out of the room without a word.

"Hokage-sama" Hinata said with a proper bow.

"Hinata-chan" Tsunade replied.

"I was wondering. Who will lead the clan?" Hinata asked. Tsunade blinked slightly at how uncharacteristicly blunt the girl was acting.

"Well, that would be you since you after all was the Heiress" Tsunade answered.

"That's the thing. I was under a trial and it hadn't been decided whether or not they found me fit to be Heiress" Hinata answered.

"I am very well aware of that. Being the Hokage I must be informed of matters as such" Tsunade replied.

"In that case, how can you be so sure that-" Hinata started only to get interrupted.

"Because of you birth. If tha Clan Head is to die at a time when no heir exist the clan is always to step back to the heir of birth. During the trial it existed no real heir to the clan, this means that now when Hiashi is dead the title now belongs to you, his oldest daughter. You see, when Hayami-san killed your father she made sure that you would take on the clan" Tsunade said with a smirk at the end.

Personally she didn't buy that shit about a genjutsu. The council had decided against Hinata and Hiashi had refused. In the heat of the argument Hayami, who always had been hot-headed, killed Hiashi thoughtlessly. That was what Tsunade believed had happened.

Hinata felt a sharp and short pain when Tsunade mentioned her father's death. She ignored it however and listened to the Hokage's words.

"So you mean I am now the head of the Hyuuga Clan?" Hinata asked her.

"Yes, when it comes to a member of the Hyuuga, you decide everything. No one stands above you in power. Because of the Hyuuga's high standpoint as a clan that also means that almost any crime commited by a clansmember is your responsibility. Either to punish or take punishment for. The only one to stand above you about your clan would be me, and that solely during a crisis when you have asked for my help" Tsunade explained without loosin the smirk. Hinata merely nodded.

"Now because of that I guess I should tell you of what I fear that some of your clansmen have done" Tsunade then continued. Hinata merely waited quietly for her to continue.

"I'm afraid that my intuition tells me that the council is lying. I suspect that there was no genjutsu cast over Hayami-san. I merely think that Hiashi did not agree with the council about you and your position within the clan. Being the hot-head she is, Hayami-san slipped and killed your father when he protested" Tsunade said as she observed the girl. This was somewhat a way of testing the girl. She could clearly see how the girl's jaws clenched in anger.

"You said that I have complete power over any Hyuuga and everything that happens within the clan?" Hinata asked Tsunade calmly.

"Yes, that is true" Tsunade answered somewhat grimly. Clearly, this was not the same Hinata as yesterday and, to be frank, Tsunade wasn't sure entirely sure what to expect from this girl. Hinata nodded.

"Good" she said before bowing good-bye. She then pivoted on the spot and walked out of the room.

Hinata was leaning against the table in the large room.

She had gone straight home after talking to Tsunade.

When reaching the compound she ordered a branch house member to gather up the council, and here she was, in the council's room, waiting for the members.

Her eyes were closed, the prominent veins around them however let on about the fact that her Byakugan was activated and she could very clearly see what was happening around her.

Soon the door opened and in stepped the entire council. In some way they had all managed to get there at the same time. Hinata looked up at all of them.

Hotaru stepped out of the crowd.

"Hinata-sama" he said as all of them bowed simultaneously.

"Hotaru-san" Hinata said with a small bow of her head. She looked at them with her activated Byakugan.

"What is it that you want Hinata-sama?" Hotaru asked her.

"It's about the council" Hinata answered as she looked at all of them. Soon she continued before any of them could speak up.

"This council will now cease to exist as I will put together a new one" She said looking at them daringly.

All of them looked stunned at her. Some of them even went as far as letting out gasps. Something very unusual for the stoic Hyuuga.

Hotaru however didn't show any sign of emotion. Even with the Byakugan activated Hinata couldn't see any change in his mind. Then, of course, her Byakugan wasn't as good as detecting those kind of thing as some others', such as Neji's.

Even though Hotaru's expression didn't show anything his choice of words showed all the more.

"That is just profund girl. You are in absolutely no position to decide such a thing" his eyes bored themselves in to hers.

"So, Hotaru-san, you claim that the clan leader are in no position decide whether or not the council will continue on?" Hinata asked him.

"You are no clan leader girl. Do not forget that you weren't the heiress of the clan when Hiashi died. You were on a trial" Hotaru answered.

"Oh, but there lies the little twist. When Hayami-san decided to kill my father before the trial was over she also made sure that I became the clan leader. For you see, when the clan head die and there is no heir decided, the first born will take over. Normally this is not something worth mentioning. Now however, when I was on a trial at the time of my father's death there was no real heir when he died, therefore I went back as the heiress and now also the head of the clan" Hinata explained. Suddenly Hotaru lost some of his control and his eyes widened in shock.

"That is just profund girl. You will stop lying to your clan elders right now" Hotaru ordered her sounding angry for the first time.

"I am not lying. The only one behaving wrong in here at the moment is you Hotaru-san. I am your clan leader and I wish to see you behave thereafter. That includes that you adress me in a proper way as well" Hinata said sounding just as angry.

"There must clearly have been some kind of misunderstanding here, the trial had after all already been decided against your favor Hinata-san" Somebody suddenly said. Hinata looked over and saw that it was Hayami who had said it. Hinata's eyes turned in to slits as she watched the older woman.

"You are in no position to even speak to me Hayami. Not efter murdering my father" Hinata said. Every word dripping with venom. Hayami looked clearly insulted by this.

"I did not murder your father. I might have killed him, I was however under a very strong genjutsu" she said looking down in regret at the end.

"Oh please, save us all of poor acting. You really think that I would believe that one of the Hyuuga council members would let a genjutsu be laid over them? First of all, who in God's name would do such a thing here in Konoha? Secondly, how come you didn't notice that person despite your Byakugan. And how dare you claim to be strong if you could not even detect a genjutsu. Correct me if I'm wrong but I thought that all of you was put on this council solely because you are amongst the strongest of the clan you wish to call the nobelest" Hinata told the woman.

Hayami snapped up and looked at her as a deer caught in spotlight. She did not know what to say now. Either she said that she had, in fact, murdered Hyuuga Hiashi, or she said that she was but a weakling and brought shame to her entire clan.

"Well I thought so. Your wish to be seen as strong is more prominent than your wish to be seen as innocent" Hinata said. Hayami looked up at her, clearly outraged.

"Well, don't wory. Your wish will come true. You will be but in jail for your deed and you will be forever known as the one strong enough to kill Hyuuga Hiashi" Hinata said venomously.

This clearly was too much for Hayami as she started to charge at Hinata. The girl jumped back just before Hayami could land a hit on her.

"Too much of a coward to meet me, are you?" Hayami asked her as she observed the girl through her now activated Byakugan. Hinata smirked at her before starting to form seals.

"ShiurbaByakugan" she then whispered so the others in the room wouldn't hear. All of them got stunned by the sight of Hinata's glowing eyes. What was that?

**A/N: I know, Hinata is _extremly_ OOC. I just needed her to be that right now, think about the fact that she is somewhat emotionally unstable right now. She is sad because of her father's death. She is angry at Hayami for killing her father. She has just recieved a whole lot of resposibility since she turned in to the clan head etc. etc. **

**So, next chapter will probably take a little while. Will however try to come up with it pretty soon. My summer break is soon coming up so I don't have much to do in school at the moment, still yet I don't really know what to write '**

**See that little lilac button below this text? Yeah, press that and make my day! D**


	29. Bird Abduction

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto**

**A/N: So, another chapter, the day after my school ended for the summer. Finally, summer break. Absolutely wonderful! 10 weeks without school. Sure I have my job over the summer, but what's that? Walking a dog through the forest! Understand! I will get paid for walking an absolutely charming dog every day. Ehm, it's the neighbors' dog, at the moment they have 8 dogs at home -.-'**

**So just for the record (can you say that here?) Ancient Kyuubi mentioned something in his review for chapter 27. At first I didn't think I would mention it in an author's note, but then I realized that it wouldn't be mentioned in the story probably. It's about the ShirubaByakugan. He said that during the whole time he thought about MangekyoSharingan.**

**Now, that is exactly what I was thinking about when I made the ShirubaByakugan up ages ago. So congratulations Ancient Kyuubi to your sharp mind!D**

**Now, to explain it. During Hinata and Neji's fight in the preliminaries in the actual manga/anime Kakashi (or Lee?) claims that it is said that the Uchiha from some time originate from the Hyuuga. Now, I thought why not make the same thing with their eyes? Therefore the way to achieve ShirubaByakugan, somebody's death. Just when it comes to the Byakugan it isn't as cruel as the way to achieve MangekyoSharingan**

* * *

Chapter 29: Bird abduction

_Naruto was walking down a long and dark corridor. It reminded him distressingly much about the corridors that led to Kyuubi's cage. ____There was a thin layer of water on the ground to make the image of those hallways perfect. _

_____However, instead of reaching the great hall that housed Kyuubi he reached the end of the corridor through a small door. He entered the door and came out on the Hokage monument. Somebodu already stood there and watched the stars that was shining brightly across the nightsky. _

_____The figure turned around, showing the face of Hinata. Naruto felt how happiness flowed through him as he walked up to her and greeted her with a big kiss. She replied happily, gripping on to him. _

_____Then, just as during their first kiss, Kyuubi came. Only this time Naruto couldn't control his urge to taste and see Hinata's blood. He bit down hard on her lips, relishing in the taste of her blood on his tounge. She hurriedly pushed him away, as she did Naruto could see how his nails turn claws started to scratch her. He couldn't control his own body, wishing he could stop himself. At the same time he enjoyed the sight and taste of her blood. _

_____She screamed. _

_____That was when he realized what he was doing, he managed to stop himself and looked at her scared. He felt how his entire demeanor changed back to his true self._

_____ Hinata looked up at him, blood gushing out of scratches he just put on her. Blood were running down her chin from where he had bitten her. Her hair look disheveled and in one place it had been ripped away from her skull, taking some skin with. He had managed to get his claws in to the side of her eyes, ripping apart her eyesocket so that the side of her eyeglobe was now revealed to the world._

_____ He could easily see that she should be dead. The wounds should have killed her, still yet she stood there looking at him with an empty glaze._

_____ Suddenly the gaze turned in to that of a Basilisk's as the word 'monster' rolled of her lips. She told him how much she hated him, when he begged her for forgivness and told her he loved her she just laughed at him. Her eyes weren't that lavender colour anymore, they had changed in to the white eyes that all other Hyuugas carried. _

_____Some of her blood that had runned down her forehead now reached her eyes. The blood ran down in to the eye, the red colour tinted both of her eyes and they turned red. In front of Naruto's eyes Hinata slowly turned in to Sasuke starting with the Sharingan. Sasuke looked at him with the same gaze as Hinata had. Sasuke didn't say anything. Still yet Naruto could feel how guilt pressed around his heart. Why was he here looking for this Tori when his best friend still yet was out there with some creepy snake-man?_

* * *

Naruto awoke with a sharp intake of breath. He was in a cold sweat, sitting up on a maddrass on the floor. He breathed out, relieved that it had only been a dream. Still yet it was unnerving him.

He looked around only to realize that he didn't recognize his surrounding. Wondering where he was he tried to remember the earlier day's events.

They had been able to reach the Hidden Stone Village and located the compound of the Bakudan clan. Then, a huge explosion came rolling their way.

He jumped out of the bed as he remembered. Looking around the room he saw the rest of his team. All of them were still sleeping. He was first to wake up because of his nightmare. He thought back to the explosion, how the hell had they managed to live through that?

Suddenly the door opened. In stepped a blond girl, her hair covering her right eye through a bang. She was dressed in red formal looking clothes, similar to the Hyuuga clan robes. Around her hip was also a belt with two pouches, position on both of her hips.

She was carrying a tray with a teapot and five large cups. Her attention was fully directed to the tea while opening the door, trying not to spill any of it. When finally through the door entirely she looked up to see Naruto standing there, watching her. First she looked shocked, then she smiled at him before putting down the tray.

"Where am I?" Naruto asked her, blunt as always.

"In my house, located within the walls of the Bakudan compound. I am Bakudan Tori" she said. Naruto felt how his eyes widened somewhat.

Did she just say Tori?

That meant it was her they were looking after. She did however not see his shocked expression as she was pouring tea in to one of the cups before reaching it out to him.

"Here, drink. It will do you good. It contains herbs that will help against any possible burns" she told him holding out the cup. He nodded at her before accepting the tea. He sipped it, simple-minded as he was.

"What happened?" he then asked her. She looked up at him again.

"An explosion was miscalculated. You were in the way of it. Luckily enough you were just out of reach for the explosion so you didn't die or even get any serious damage. You did however pass out" she told him with a slight smile. He looked in to her light blue eyes and wondered how she had grown up. Whether or not her childhood had been worse, better or the same as his.

"Now, I'll leave you to your own. If you need anything my room is just the door oppsite to yours'" she smiled at him before she walked out of the room.

Ten minutes later Jiraiya stirred and woke up. Naruto told him where they were and that he should drink some of the tea. He repeated that procedure three more times before all of them were awake around forty minutes after Tori had left the room. Then he told them what had happened.

"Apparently one of their explosion barely missed us and we ended up only unconscious" he told them, roughly summoning up what Tori had told him.

"Yeah, right. Thanks to me" Rin said before taking a sip of her tea.

"What?" Naruto asked her confused.

"If I hadn't thrown up a chakra-barrier we would've been dead" she told him.

"Lucky you didn't keep it up then" Jiraiya shot in "Otherwise we would've blown our cover and been dead anyway"

"Yeah, yeah, I got more news" Naruto then interrupted, clearly not interested in that stuff. Jiraiya sighed at him before speaking.

"Okay Naruto, what is it?"

"The girl who told me all this, and gave us the tea... She's Tori" he said enthusiasticly. They all looked at him with large eyes.

"T-Tori?...You met Tori?" Sakura asked him surprised. He just nodded, looking happy.

"Well, that's something good. Still yet we have to come up with a plan" Jiraiya said while thinking over their situation.

"I doubt that she will come with us freely" Sakura said.

"Yeah, and that leaves us to kidnap her" Jiraiya said still sounding and looking thoughtful.

"How and when?" Rin asked.

"Tonight" Jiraiya said, answering her second question.

"That just leaves us to how" Sakura said as she leaned back and started to think.

--

When they finally had finished their planning they stood up and walked out of the room.

They came out in to a vacated hallway. Naruto went to the door opposite to the one they exited and knocked. Soon they would hear somebody moving on the other side of the door before it opened to reveal Tori.

"Hello, Tori-san. All of us have now awoken and we don't really know where to go or anything" Naruto said sounding sheepishly. Mentally Sakura stood awed at Naruto's acting skills.

"Well, it's good that you are finally upp" Tori said with a large smile as she stepped out of her room and closed the door.

"Are you hungry... eh"

"Yamehada. We are all family" Jiraiya filled in the end of her question before answering it. "Yes, we are hungry"

"Good, then I will soon bring food to you. After that you are welcome to stay or leave as you want. Consider yourselves as my guests" she said almost chirping before turning right, starting to walk down the hallway.

"Well, if she wasn't chipper" Kakashi said breaking the now weird silence.

--

She soon returned with food, consisting of rice and and a beef-stew.

"Here you go" she said as she put down the food with a smile.

"This smells lovely Tori-san" Naruto said enthusiasticly as he took up his chopsticks.

"Itadakimasu" he said and before any of the others could even react. He took several fast bites before freezing, his entire face turned red.

"Aaaaah" he screamed as he reached for his cup of tea and downed it all in one big gulp. He breathed out heavily.

"What's wrong. Wasn't it any good?" Tori asked him,sounding heartbroken.

"It was hot" Naruto basically breated out, unable to talk properly. Tori still looked just as heartbroken, she opened her mouth to say something more when suddenly Rin burst out laughing. Everybody looked over at her and Naruto's eyes turned in to slits.

"Try it yourself and see how you react" he said with venom in his voice, suddenly he could speak properly.

Instead of answering him Rin just continued on laughing. Naruto's eyebrow started to twitch and soon he snapped completely.

He quickly reached for Rin's bowl of food, took up a bite with her chopsticks and forced it in to her wideopen mouth. She quickly stopped laughing, first she looked at him shocked, then she started to taste the food properly.

"Mmm, this is good" she said. Then her expression changed, from thoughtful it turned in to pure panic. She swallowed slowly before she screamed and reached for her tea, doing the same thing that Naruto had just seconds ago.

"That was hot" she then said. Everybody looked at the two young Jinchuuriki silently as they sweat-dropped.

"You shouldn't fight" Tori interrupted the silence. They all looked at her for a while before Rin bowed deep to her.

"I'm so sorry Bakudan-san. I didn't mean to be rude" she said apologeticly.

"Oh, that's alright. You don't have to bow like that" Tori said, slightly panic now. Suddenly they were interrupted by the sound of knocks. Tori looked up.

"I wonder who that might be" she said as she stood up and walked out of the room. As soon as she was out Jiraiya took action. He quickly bit down on his thumb to draw blood.

"**Kuchiyose no Jutsu**" (Summoning jutsu) he said as he slammed it down on the floor. Out came a small orange toad with darkblue lines around his eyes and mouth.

"Yo" Gamakichi greeted them.

"Gamakichi, go out of the room and follow the blond girl there. Then come back here and tell us what's going on. Make sure that you are not detected" Jiraiya ordered the little toad.

"Okay" Gamakichi said before hoping out of the room. He looked right and saw a red piece of cloth disappear around the corner He hurried to jump down the hallway to follow it.

As he reached he corner and rounded it he ended up at the top of a stair. At the bottom of it stood a blond girl with her back towards him. Instead of him she was facing the open door and the man who stood in it. He was wearing the same red robes as she was.

"I've come here to inform you that you have a mission tonight Tori-san" he told her.

"Thank you Tsukimori-san" she replied, sounding as if she smiled.

"Here are the information about the mission" he said as he reached her a small scroll. She immediately opened it and read it through. Suddenly she turned serious in a whole other way than earlier. As she read it he started to look around. Gamakichi could see how his gaze traveled around the room, to the stairs and up them.

'_Shit' _The small toad thought as he quickly jumped behind the corner. Even though he might be small he was still yet visible.

At the moment he was truly thankful that Gamatsu hadn't accidently followed hom here. In that case their cover would've been blown now, when the yellow and red little toad would have stayed there at the top of the stairs and been sighted.

Now, however, Gamakichi didn't get sighted. Because Gamatatsu was still at home in their world trying to find the candy that Gamakichi had told him to look for this morning. Of course, there was no candy. Poor Gamatatsu was at the moment looking for something that didn't excist only so that Gamakichi could be left alone.

"Thank you Tsukimori-san" Tori repeated herself as she closed the scroll.

"Would you like anything before you leave?" she then asked him, returning to her earlier happy state.

"No thanks" he said, sounding as if the thought to enter her home digusted him. Gamakichi took this part of the conversation as his cue to leave. He wouldn't want to stand here too long.

"What happened?" Jiraiya asked him as soon as he entered the room.

"You know old man, you could at least give me something for the trouble" Gamakichi said instead of answering the question.

"I don't have time for this Gamakichi" Jiraiya said irritated at how all the toads seemed to have a non helpful personality.

"Really, how hard is it to give me something" Gamakichi continued, not even looking at the Sanin.

"_Gamakichi_"

"Yeah, yeah, don't get your panties in a bunch man. She's got a mission tonight" he said before he popped back to his own world, and lucky was that. The next moment they could hear Tori's steps outside the room.

"Hi again" she said with a smile before she entered the room. Still yet there was something missing in her smile that made it seem as if she wasn't really happy anymore.

"I have a mission tonight, so unfortunately you have to leave then. I don't think it's good that you stay here in my house alone within the clan compound walls. It wouldn't be particulary safe for you without a Bakudan to host you. And nobody else wished to do so" she told them before sitting down again.

* * *

That night Tori made sure that her pouches were filled with clay for her mission and she tied her forehead-protector around her forehead.

She felt sorrow over Tsukimori-san's reaction when she asked if he wanted something before he left. That look of disgust that he gave her. Asking her why he would want anything from a demon.

She shook her head to rid herself of the thoughts. She walked out of her room and looked across the hall. The door to where the Yamehadas had stayed was open and the room was empty. Apparently they had left without saying good bye. She sighed at the sight of the empty room, even though they had only known her for one day they already didn't want to be close to her.

She walked through the compound area and out of the walls that surrounded all the houses in which the different families of the Bakudan clan lived.

As she entered the streets she could see a movement out of the corned of her eye to her right. She quickly turned her head that way. To her utter surprise the silver-haired Yamehada stood there, he was leaning against the wall.

She couldn't see his face because of the bandage that covered it. Earlier she hadn't deared ask what had happened, still yet she wondered.

He looked at her with that dark eye and she felt how her heart thumped a little louder and a little faster at the sight of him. She hadn't really seen him properly earlier since he was so quiet. Now, however, she could see how attractive he was despite the fact that his face was covered. He started to walk over to her.

"Hi Yamehada-san" she said happily, sounding slightly frantic in her tries to cover up her thougths about him.

"What are you doing here?" she then asked him. He didn't answer her but just walked up to her. Her breath caught in her throath and she felt as if he was too close. She did definitely not feel comfortable that close to him.

"What are you doing?" she asked him sounding breathless.

She had always had a thing for dark eyes. It was something mysterious over it that she liked, and the fact that he was a stranger didn't exactly make him less mysterious.

His hand reached up, at the moment she didn't really know what to expect from that hand. To her relief and disappointment it reached up to his eyepatch. He lifted it to revealed a red eye. She looked at in shock, how come it was red.

It held three black tomoe that rested on a dark ring that went around his pupil. Slowly, the three tomoes looked as if they started to spin, at the same time it felt as if the world around her did the same thing. Then she felt how everything went black.

--

Kakashi caught her before she fell to the ground. The Sharingan always worked, in some way this seemed to go a little easier than usual however. He sighed at how naïve she was. She really shouldn't trust strangers that much. Once she lay unconscious in his arms the rest came out. Jiraiya was franticly writing something down.

"This will be perfect for my new book. A lone girl taking in an unconscious stranger for the day. When she walks out that night he stands there, the sexual tension between them is tangible. When he turns out to be an enemy to her and kidnaps her. Then as time goes the tension between them grows and soon they're having sex all over the place despite being enemies" he said sounding enthusiastic.

Then, out of the blue, Sakura hit him hard over the head, making him fall to the ground. Now supporting a big, red lump on his head.

"Damn hentai" Sakura basically screamed as she stood over him looking furious.

"A little help here?" Kakashi asked them irritated. Naruto immediately went over and relieaved the copy nin of his burden. They hurried to bind her up and get over the wall that surrounded the Hidden Village.

* * *

The next evening Tori woke up bound in the forest. She slowly opened her eyes, seeing a lit fire in front of her. In some way she managed to sit up despite the ropes that restrained her movement. Except for the fire she could also see a bunch of backpacks laying there around the fire, non of them was unpacked.

Looking around she could see that two of the Yamehadas were sitting there. The red haired girl and the blond boy. The two of them that had been the loudest and most confident.

They didn't wear their earlier clothing, the blond boy wore something stunningly orange, while the girl wore a white polo shirt that was just long enough to cover anything and a pair of dark blue baggy pants.

Most eye-catching however was the very visible headband on the boy's forehead. Showing of the sign of Konoha. On closer inspection Tori also found that the girl had one of her own, only her's was placed around her left arm.

Suddenly the two of them seemed strong. Earlier they had just been two very loud and cofident kids, a few years younger than her. Now, they seemed stronger than her, despite their age. It wasn't a particulary funny feeling, being taken hostage by a group of shinobi where even the youngest felt stronger than her. She looked at them with big eyes.

"What do you want?" she asked them, sounding scared. The two just looked at her.

"You didn't really have much of a reason for kidnapping me, I'm not that important in the village nor my clan" she continued.

"We're not after something in your village or clan" the girl said.

"Not?" Tori asked them.

"Are you really that naïve?" she could hear a voice from her right. She looked over there and was shocked to see the pink haired girl. She as well was wearing different clothes and a forehead protector with the mark of Konoha.

"Have you even thought about the fact that you might be in danger because of that thing inside of you?" the girl continued, sounding slightly angry even. Tori looked at her shocked, they knew about the Gobi?

"You… want … the Gobi?" she asked them.

"Sakura-chan. You weren't suppose to be here" the boy suddenly said. Tori saw how the pink haired girl looked down in something close to shame.

"I'm sorry Naruto" she said before turning around and walking away from them. Leaving Tori alone with the other two.

"We aren't after the Gobi. But you" the boy whom had been called Naruto told her. Tori looked at them, suspicious and wary shining through in her eyes.

"We are also Jinchuuriki" Naruto continued. Tori looked at them with huge eyes now. It was the first time she had ever heard of any other like her.

"I'm housing the Kyuubi and Rin here is housing the Hachibi" He then explained to her.

"But… why?" Tori asked, not really meaning why they also were Jinchuuriki.

"The Akatsuki is after us. They are a group of S-class missing nin that is searching for the Jinchuuriki. Craving the power of the Bijuus" the girl suddenly shot in. The boy had called her Rin, right?

"We're from Konoha and we're taking you with us home. It's for your and our safety" she continued. The girl sounded far more harsh than the boy. Suddenly the earlier pink haired girl came crashing in to the camp again.

"Somebody's coming" she told them urgently before rushing over to a backpack. After her the two men also came there, rushing over to a pair of backpacks as well.

Naruto and Rin hurried to get their backpacks as well, they didn't even ask any questions. As the older man went to the fire the pink haired girl walked over to Tori and bent down in front of her.

"I'm just gonna put you to sleep" she said with a smile before reaching up to the blond girl's temples, and then everything turned black.

**A/N: Sorry to you guys who wanted another Hinata chapter. Hoped this was good as well **

**So before I "say good bye" I just want to start a new habbit and say thank you to all who reviewed. So thank you: GraityTheWizard, Darth-Taisha, Ancient Kyubi, Kitsune no Yoko and last but no least Pyx.**

**Please continue to review. They are truly wonderful! **


	30. I'm not alone

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto**

**A/N: I'm sorry. That's all I can say. Plus I've got somewhat of an excuse :P My birthday's the 19****th**** of June and I got a new computer What I did however not get at first was my internet. My mom didn't manage to fix it for a week until I went to my dad's place. Now I thought that I would be able to update, but no. The day before I came the lightning had managed to do something to the internet here. Now however, one week after my arrival, I got internet again… on the evenings when my dad unplug it to the other computer -.-'**

**One good thing about this however is the fact that now I've been able to write much more. So I have just finished chapter 33 O.o Because of that I'll upload the next chapter tomorrow already!

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Chapter 30: I'm not alone

The distance that earlier had taken basically a week now took only one and a half day.

They had been stalked since they had told Tori and because of that they barely stopped for sleep or food.

Despite her clan practically hating her they had still yet decided to keep tabs on her. Probably just because of the precious bijuu inside of her.

The rest of the trip however they couldn't go straight. They had to take detours, trying to lose the stalkers. Still yet Sakura could feel their stalker even after crossing the border in to the fire country. Luckily enough the shinobi following them wasn't used to the leafy undergrowth of the fire country. So they soon lost them to the thick forest.

So in a week after crossing the border they once again stood in front of the large gates of Konoha. At the moment Kakashi was carrying the unconscious Tori over his shoulder as they passed Kotetsu and Izumo with a wave.

As they walked through Konoha they all saw a bunch of people dressed in white. As they looked closer they saw that it was only a group of people of the Hyuuga clan.

None of them paid the group anymore attention except Naruto. He thought that the girl in the front looked scaringly much like Hinata. With a few small exceptions. Such as the clothes, she had never earlier worn the clan robes. He only saw her face from the side, still yet it seemed as if she had gone through an exchange of her personality completely.

He wondered how she could've changed so much in such a short time, if that now was Hinata.

"Oi, Teinousha, Hurry Up" Rin suddenly called out to him, bringing him out

"Yeah, I'm coming" he said, casting a last glance at the girl who looked like Hinata before hurrying after the others.

--

Kakashi carefully put down Tori on the floor in Tsunade's office. The blond Hokage looked at the girl now lying on her floor.

"So this is Bakudan Tori, Jinchuuriki of the Gobi?" she asked them.

"Yepp Tsunade dear" Jiraiya answered. She looked up at them.

"Okay, how come she is roped?" she asked them.

"Well, we had to kidnap her of course" Jiraiya said. Tsunade looked at him for a while as if he had grown a second head.

"You mean you walked in to the Hidden Stone Village, one of our greatest enemies, and stole their Bijuu?" she asked him.

"Eh, yes. None of us really expected her to just come with us calmly" he said.

"Have you suddenly become even more stupid" she asked him. The weirdest was her tone. Despite her words and famous temper she still yet sounded calm. Not even a twitch of the eyebrow or anything. Probably she was just so shocked over his actions that she couldn't get angry.

"Please, Tsunade dear, did you expect her to come with us calmly?" he asked as if she was the stupid one.

"Well, you should at least have tried talking to her. But, no, instead you pranced in there and STOLE THEIR PRECIOUS LITTLE BIJUU. DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA WHAT THAT THING MEANS TO THEM?" she screamed at him. Everybody except Jiraiya breathed out in relief. For a while there they had feared an impostor, a bad one at that too.

"Ts-ts-tsunade dear, calm down now" Jiraiya said, sounding slightly pleading. Tsunade looked as if she was just about to scream at him again so Sakura interjected.

"Shishou" Tsunade however didn't take any notice to the girl and just continued screaming. By now she didn't even have anything more intelligent to scream, she just screamed about how stupid

"Shishou" Sakura repeated herself, clearly irritated over the fact that she was being ignored. Soon her eyebrows started twitching as she a third, fourth and fifth time repeated herself. The others looked at her as if she was a ticking bomb.

"SHISHOU" she suddenly screamed, in some way managing to do so louder than Tsunade. The Hokage suddenly stopped her scolding of Jiraiya and looked curious at her apprentice.

"Shishou, it has already been done" Sakura said, suddenly calm again.

"It might have been a stupid choice but it can't be changed now" she continued. Tsunade said down again with a sigh.

"You're right Sakura" she said while massaging her own temples.

"Now could you tell me everything about her clan? In case they decide to come here" she told them, leaning back in her chair again.

"They all have their houses in the same area, which is surrounded by walls. Tori here lived on her own" Jiraiya started the explanation. Then he continued on explaining much more about the clan than anybody would have thought possible for him to take notice of.

"Okay" Tsunade said when he had finished.

"Wait a minute" she said before pressing some kind of button. Soon a member of the ANBU stepped in to her office.

"Here take this and make sure to make up the best plan in case the people mentioned attack" she told the ANBU before handing him, or her, a tape. Apparently she had recorded the explanation.

"Hai Hokage-sama" the ANBU said, revealing itself as a he. When he had exited her office she once again turned to the group before her.

"Now, let's wake her up" as she was talking she turned her gaze to Sakura, motioning for the girl to wake Tori. Sakura merely nodded her head before crouching down beside the blond girl, putting her hands to Tori's temples and then standing up.

As she did Tori started to stir slowly, blinking her eyes a couple of times before sitting up. She looked around, taking in her surroundings. After a while her gaze stopped on Tsunade.

"Hello Tori-san. Do you know where you are?" The Hokage asked her. Tori looked at her a little suspicious.

"You're the Hokage, aren't you?" she asked her.

"Yes, indeed I am" Tsunade answered, not surprised that the girl knew how the leader of Konoha looked. When growing up in the Hidden Stone Village – a village far more influenced by war than Konoha – you should know how the leader of your greatest enemy village looks like.

"Then... I'm in... Konoha?" Tori claimed, still yet it sounded slightly like a question.

"Yes, you are in Konoha" Tsunade answered.

"Why?" Tori asked her, surprisingly calm about the whole situation.

"Because you house the Gobi" Tsunade answered without any further explanation at first. At the words Tori remembered the last time she had been awake. When those two had told her that they also were Jinchuuriki.

"They... said..." she stared meekly, not even sure herself what she was planning to say. At her words Tsunade looked up at Rin and Naruto. They just nodded at her silently. She then turned back her gaze to Tori.

"Yes, they did. The reason we brought you here is Akatsuki. Have you heard of them?" Tsunade asked her. Tori just looked at her confused.

"Apparently not" Tsunade said with a sigh.

"They are a group of S-class missing-nins that are after the all the bijuu, this means that you are in constant danger that they might find you" she explained to the young girl.

"I am?" she asked her.

"Yes, now we have gotten the knowledge that there is only four Jinchuuriki still alive. You of the Gobi" she motioned towards Tori.

"Uzumaki Naruto of the Kyuubi" she motioned towards Naruto and Tori looked at the blond boy standing behind her.

"Kizume Rin of the Hachibi" Tori's gaze turned to the red haired girl with Tsunade's motion.

"And, at last. the Kazekage, Gaara of Shukaku" Tsunade said putting her hands back on the desk. Tori looked at her with big eyes.

"You mean that the Kazekage is a Jinchuuriki" she asked flabbergasted.

"Yes, he is. Now, that is however of no importance at the moment" Tsunade answered her. Before she could continue however Tori started to squirm uncomfortably. The Hokage sighed.

"Sakura, un-rope her so that she doesn't have to sit there like that" she said with a motion towards the sitting girl.

"Oh, yeah" Sakura said as she hurriedly brought out a kunai and cut Tori's ropes.

"Arigatou" Tori said with a slight smile as she stood up.

As she did she also let the zipper of her right hip-pouch open and stealthy slipped in her hand. She took a bite out of the clay there from her right hand.

Before she even could start chewing the claw however she felt a hand on her arm. She back in to the eyes of Naruto, the Kyuubi Jinchuuriki.

"I would appreciate if you didn't take us that lightly Tori" Tsunade said, sounding stern. Tori looked at her with big eyes as Naruto slowly removed her hand from the pouch.

"Do not forget that I am the Hokage of this village. I will notice if you try to blow us up" Tsunade continued looking Tori square in the eyes.

"Then you also have all those behind you. You are alone against six people. Three Chuunin, one Jounin and two Sannin. You wouldn't stand a chance if you were to fight us. Then however, the fact that you are still alive shows that we don't want to fight you" Tsunade explained to her, sounding softer at the end.

Tori just continued to look at her with the same big eyes. Tsunade sighed after a while when she didn't get any response.

"Well, I guess it is to expect that you are shocked. Being abducted and all by Konoha shinobi" she said sitting down.

"By the way, didn't I tell you not take us lightly?" she asked her after a while. Tori looked at her confused. Tsunade arched an eyebrow at her as she explained her statement concealed as a question.

"I can see that you are still chewing the clay. You're hands are moving" she said motioning towards Tori's hands.

"Now would you please stop that and actually believe us. We haven't brought you here to hurt you in any way. The reason you are here is because of your own safety" she said. Tori's gaze turned angry and resentful.

"And why should I believe you? You're the Hokage after all, my village's enemy" Tori asked, her voice filled with the same feelings as her eyes.

"Why in-deed?" Tsunade asked.

"I don't have any reason to trust you. So I won't!" Tori continued.

"That is understandable for the moment yes. But would you please stop chewing that god damn clay before we make you" Tsunade said, sounding irritated now.

"Why should I?" Tori asked her. Tsunade sighed heavily once.

"Would somebody, please, make her stop" she said sounding both tired and slightly angry.

Rin stepped forward immediately. She took Tori's wrist and applied chakra to her own hands that surrounded their hands. It went in to the mouths on Tori's hands and worked as a physical block making Tori unable to chew with her hands.

"Hey, you let go of me" Tori said, trying to get away from Rin.

"No can do" was all Rin said as she continued to hold on to the girl. After a while this proved to be quite a challenge.

"Sakura-san" Rin said after a while through gritted teeth.

The pink haired medic understood immediately what the other girl wanted. Therefore she stepped up to them and put her hands on Tori's shoulders. With the help pf her chakra enchanted strength she was easily able to hold Tori still, making it easier for Rin to prevent her from chewing.

"That's better. Now, as said earlier there are only four Jinchuuriki left. Akatsuki have gotten their hands on the rest of them. Have you ever heard of the Akatsuki?" Tsunade asked Tori.

The blond girl scrutinized the woman for a while, debating in her head whether or not to answer the question. After a while she decided that her knowledge on this group of people wouldn't matter.

"Vaguely. Heard the name, no more" she said. She neither sounded nor looked happy as she answered.

"Okay, then I'll inform you more on them. They are as said a group of S-class missing nin. They are after the nine Bijuu, they are trying to get the extreme power which they hold. We are not sure what they will do with that power, but it will definitely not be fun if they get it" she explained.

Tori looked at her without changing her expression. The blond bomber had no idea why the Hokage was telling her this. Why would the Hokage want to tell her this much information. It didn't seem as something somebody would normally tell their enemy.

"The reason we went to get you after finding out about you is the Akatsuki. As said earlier if they got their hands on the power of all the nine Bijuu it wouldn't be any fun for anyone. Therefore we made sure to get you here since we have found out that the Akatsuki was heading your way" Tsunade said.

At the last part Tori felt shocked. They had been headed her way? She inwardly shook her head, she shouldn't believe what these people told her. They were enemy shinobi. Konoha shinobi.

"Then I guess I can't ignore the other reason. As earlier said behind you stand two Jinchuuriki. Both of them knowing the feelings that only a Jinchuuriki feels. Therefore they wouldn't be able to stand by and watch a fellow Jinchuuriki be killed by the Akatsuki. It would be against their nature. Wouldn't it Naruto, Rin" Tsunade said sounding slightly tired. As if she wished that this reason hadn't been as big as it was. It wasn't logical enough.

"Of course not" Naruto said. Something in his voice told Tori that even though they didn't know each other he would make sure that she was safe just because she was a Jinchuuriki like him. Just because they had went through the same things.

"Why should I believe you?" she asked the woman.

"Well, I guess that Rin and Naruto would have to show you that" she answered.

"Naruto, Rin. Take her to your own training place her show her that you are truly Jinchuuriki. Just make sure that she doesn't escape. If she does, catch her. And once you have convinced her, tell her more about anything that she is not aware of. You three are now dismissed while I discuss you're mission further with Jiraiya, Kakashi and Sakura" she said as she turned away from them.

"Okay Oba-chan" Naruto said as he walked up to Rin, Sakura and Tori. The blond girl looked confused at the younger boy, did he just address his leader in that disrespectful matter?

"Tsunade-sama. How will we make her co-operate in getting there?" Rin asked the Hokage then.

"Well, if she won't go freely you can always rope her up along the way. I trust that is within your abilities Rin" Tsunade answered.

"Hai, Tsunade-sama" Rin said as she and Sakura at the same time released their hold on Tori.

Suddenly everything felt much lighter, Tori hadn't really realized but Sakura's hold on her had really been heavy on her body. Now when she could move freely again however she could feel how much pure strength that girl held. She felt a hand on her right arm and looked there. As she did she looked in to the smiling face of Naruto.

"Now come here with us" he said to her with a smile as he led her out of the room.

Naruto led Tori out of the building with Rin walking falling in step behind them.

"Wait a minute Teinousha" Rin said just as Naruto was about to open the door.

"Huh?"

"Maybe we shouldn't just walk out of her with her like that" Rin said as she stood walked to stand in front of Tori. The red haired girl was shorter than the other girl, by quite much too.

"What do you mean Rin-chan?" Naruto asked.

"Well, everybody would easily see that she's form the Hidden Stone Village. It would look weird if we just walked through town with her" Rin explained as she reached up. Tori looked at her suspicious as the girl reached around her head.

"Hey, hey, what are you doing?" she asked her, pushing away the other girl. Rin sighed.

"I'm removing your forehead protector so that people won't see that you're from the Hidden Stone Village. Our enemy" She explained, sounding as if Tori was stupid that didn't get that.

"Now, if you don't co-operate I will be forced to tie you up you know" Rin then said.

"With what? You have ropes hidden somewhere in that outfit?" Tori asked her.

"Nope, no ropes" Rin said as she held up her hand, concentrating chakra and forming a long string with it that extended form her hand. Tori looked at it with big eyes.

"What is it with you and your chakra?" she asked.

"I've got a kekkei-genkai that makes me able to form my chakra anyway I want" Rin explained.

"So you better behave or I will tie you down. You understand" Rin said. Tori looked at her, scrutinizing the other girl.

"Okay" she said reluctantly after a while.

"Good girl" Rin said as she for a second time reached up and removed Tori's forehead protector. She then gave it to Tori who put it away in her robes.

"So let's go now" she said before pushing the door open and went out from the building with Tori and Naruto close behind her.

As they walked through Konoha Tori looked around with big eyes as Naruto was leading her. She hadn't been outside of the Earth country and had mostly stayed within her village.

Konoha and Stone wasn't anything like each other.

Stone was constructed for war, Konoha was far more peaceful.

Even the shinobi looked calm and relaxed.

Tori felt both awed and irritated.

Awed that people could live like this, a way of living she had always yearned for.

Irritated that they were foolish enough to really feel relaxed only because they were home. Then of course she might not be one to speak, she had after all been abducted and brought here just because she had trusted a complete stranger.

She felt how she blushed at the thought. Luckily enough Naruto didn't seem to notice.

It didn't take long before they reached their training ground. When they did they started with introducing themselves better to Tori.

"So, I'm Uzumaki Naruto and one day I will be the number one Hokage" Naruto said enthusiastically. Rin sighed and shook her head, used to that introduction.

"I'm Kizume Rin, vessel of the Hachibi. Teinousha over there houses the Kyuubi" she explained. Tori looked at them.

"You mean it's true? I'm not alone?" she asked them, clearly not sure if she should believe them.

"Believe it" Naruto said, giving her one of his large smiles.

"Well, that's what we're here to show you" Rin said.

"You start Naruto. It's best if not both of us do it at the same time" she then said as she took Naruto's place, holding onto Tori's arm.

"What, what are you going to do?" she asked them.

"I don't know Rin-chan, you're better at doing it while not exhausted" Naruto said, sounding almost as if he pleaded.

"Just use that way of thinking. You've done it before" Rin waved him off.

"Okay Rin-chan" he said as he started to walk away from them.

"What is he going to do?" Tori asked Rin again.

"You'll see. Just make sure that you pay attention to his chakra signature" she said not even looking at Tori.

When Naruto had put some way between himself and the two girls he stopped and turned around again towards them.

He sighed deeply once as he calmed down himself. He immediately started to use the way of thinking that Rin had come up with earlier. Sensing the seal with his chakra he looked after the ways through it.

The Yondaime had after all made sure so that Kyuubi's chakra could sipper out through the seal. Naruto and Rin had learned to take advantage of this while training.

After a while he had managed to get through the seal with his mind and reached the source of the other chakra within himself. Where the Kyuubi was.

As he had opened the way to the chakra he immediately felt how it started to flow through the paths in the seal and out from it.

Red chakra engulfed him as his appearance turned slightly wilder. It didn't change as much as when the chakra came out of anger, but still yet some.

Tori could feel the sudden change in his chakra signal. From large to humongous. From normal chakra to evil and ancient one that existed to bring havoc upon the worlds. The same kind of chakra that she was housing. She looked at the red haired girl standing at her side with large eyes. Rin had a serious expression on her face.

"Is that…" she asked her, unable to finish the question.

"Yes" Rin answered, not needing the ending.

"So, he really is" Tori then continued.

"Yes, he really is a Jinchuuriki" Rin confirmed. As soon as Naruto had drawn back the Kyuubi's chakra he walked back to them.

"My turn" Rin then said as she let go of Tori. Naruto took her place again even though he didn't needed. By now Tori was so shocked that she wouldn't be able to escape even if she really had wanted to. Rin then walked and repeated Naruto's actions.

"You guys really are Jinchuuriki" Tori said as she looked at Rin. She sounded relieved.

"Yeah" Naruto confirmed just as Rin had earlier. He sounded grim, it was after all not something that he was happy

"I'm not alone" Tori continued, just as happy and relieved.

"I'm not alone" she repeated herself.

"I'm not alone" by now she was so happy that she was crying. She looked at Naruto and exclaimed to him.

"I'm not alone" then she hugged him out of pure happiness. She started to jump around, still hugging him, as she continued singing over and over again that she wasn't alone.

"Hey, Teinousha. Shouldn't you stay to only one girl?" Rin asked Naruto as she came over to them. Tori stopped jumping around and looked at Rin shocked. Then she practically jumped away from Naruto.

"I'm so sorry I didn't realize you two were dating" she apologized.

"We're not" Naruto said, sounding grumpy. The mention of Hinata made him remember that girl from earlier that looked so much like her. The memory of her made him feel as if something was wrong with Hinata.

"You're not? Then what…" Tori asked confused as she looked between them and pointed at Rin. The red haired girl chuckled a little bit.

"We're not dating. He do however already have a girlfriend" Rin explained. Understanding dawned on Tori's face.

"Okay, then I get it" she chirped.

"Well, maybe we should start to explain some things" Rin then continued.

"Like what?" Tori asked her.

"Well, first of all we need to ask you some questions" Rin answered.

"How much do you know about the Gobi and have you ever drawn out its powers?" Naruto asked her. Tori looked at him for a while before sighing and looking down.

"Well, I've drawn out its powers once. A few years back when I got the news that my brother was dead. It broke my heart. I mean, sure he was a rough nin and all. Still yet I always hoped that I would get to meet him sometime" she said sounding heartbroken, speaking about her brother.

"That's normal" Rin said nodding. Tori looked up at her.

"You mean that anybody would have hoped that?" she asked, sounding slightly hopeful.

"No, I meant that it's normal for the Bijuu's chakra to seep out under strong emotions" Rin explained.

"Oh" Tori looked depressed again.

"Anybody would have hoped that" Naruto said as he put a comforting hand on Tori's back.

"Really?" she asked him looking up again.

"Yeah, I mean I am. My best friend left the village three years ago to seek revenge, I'm still hoping that he will come back one day" Naruto explained. Rin felt a small tug at her heart when he mentioned Sasuke. She really wished that would stop, still yet it never did. She looked away from them as she spoke again, before Tori could ask any questions about Sasuke.

"What do you know about the Gobi?" she asked. Tori looked at her a little startled, then she remembered that they had asked her that as well.

"Well, it has been within my family for ages. Some early leader of the clan managed to capture the Gobi and sealed it within a child. After that they have continued to do so. Therefore our clan has always had a Jinchuuriki that's housing the Gobi. Every Jinchuuriki is taught about the Gobi and about the whole prospect of being a Jinchuuriki" She started to explain.

"For you see the Gobi doesn't die" she then said. Naruto and Rin looked at her confused.

"Yeah, no of the Bijuu dies" Rin said.

"No, I mean. They said that when a Jinchuuriki dies the Bijuu often die with it - it's not sure if it always happened since most Bijuu haven't been sealed before. This is because they are truly trapped when sealed away. The Gobi however, the eagle, never loses its freedom. The Jinchuuriki is merely it's cage, and if it waits patiently long enough the door will one day open as the Jinchuuriki dies" Tori explained.

"So, you mean that after you the Gobi was supposed to be sealed away again?" Naruto asked her.

"Yes" Tori confirmed.

"Okay, so when you die the Gobi will still live. You know anything else?" Rin asked her. Tori thought for a while before shaking her head.

"No, nothing else" she answered.

"Okay, then I guess it's our time maybe to tell you some thing" Rin then said.

"Well first we might explain some more about ourselves. As earlier said I'm Kizume Rin. My kekkei-genkai allows me to form chakra in any way I please and I'm housing the Hachibi. The eight tailed wolf. The reason I'm a Jinchuuriki is that my family and clan wanted power so they sealed the Hachibi in to one of the leaders' children" she explained.

"And I'm Uzumaki Naruto. I'm housing the Kyuubi because 15 years ago it attacked Konoha and the only way for the Yondaime Hokage to defeat it was to seal it away in to a newborn child" he explained. Tori looked at them with big eyes.

"I can't believe this. I always thought that I would never meet anybody like me" she said.

"Yeah, I know, I also thought so until three years ago when I met Gaara" Naruto said.

"Gaara?" Tori asked him confused.

"The Kazekage" Naruto said. Tori looked at him with big eyes.

"You've met the Kazekage?" she asked him surprised.

"Yeah I've met him. We were in the same chuunin exams three years ago" Naruto explained.

"What? The Kazekage turned chuunin only three years ago?" Tori asked him shocked.

"No, only Shikamaru turned chuunin back then" Naruto answered. Tori's eyes grew even larger. To think that the Kazekage had tried out for chuunin only three years ago. That must mean that he was young.

"How old is the Kazekage anyway?" she asked him.

"15 like me and Rin here" Naruto answered. In some way Tori's eyes managed to turn even larger.

"What? You mean that the Kazekage is only 15 years old?" she practically screamed.

"Hey, calm down. Yes, he's 15. So what? Sandaime Hokage managed to turn Hokage at the age of 13" Rin interrupted her.

"At least I think that it was 13. Maybe he was younger" she then continued sounding more thoughtful.

"How did you know that Rin-chan?" Naruto asked her shocked.

"Well, I needed to know Konoha's history if I was going to turn in to a citizen of Konoha. Right?" Rin answered him with a smile. Naruto merely shook his head at her. Tori was just about to say something before Rin interrupted her. She had once again come to her senses and realized that Konoha's history didn't matter at the moment.

"It doesn't matter right now" she said waving her hand before turning to Tori again.

"You said that you had only drawn out the Gobi's powers once, right?" she asked her.

"Yeah"

"And that was during strong emotions, so that should mean that it wasn't on purpose?"

"Yeah"

"Okay, then, let's learn you how to draw out them" she concluded the brief moment of questions. She jumped away and started to walk further out on the field stretching her arms upwards as she walked. She was clearly expecting Tori to follow her.

"Why?" Tori asked her instead of following her. Rin stopped mid-step before pivoting on the spot.

"Yeah, right. You still yet don't know why" she said.

"It's for control" Naruto said. Tori looked at him confused.

"We don't want to lose control over the Bijuu inside of us. So we train on drawing out their chakra under controlled circumstances, that way we get used to their chakra and the risk of ever losing control decreases" he explained to her.

"Okay" Tori said. Rin looked slightly grumpy, muttering something under her breath.

"Rin" Naruto said boring his eyes in to her. Rin jumped slightly as she quickly turned her head towards him. She looked down guilty as she mumbled a sorry. Tori looked back and forth between them.

"Well, let's get started will we" Naruto then said.

****

**A/N: Tori's not alone Yay for her…. Or something…. xD**

**Well well, now I just want to say thank you to lakritsnr1, .xXx.hikari.midnight.xXx., bobbetter, Pyx, Dart-Taisha, Ancient Kyubi and Roebert Damme for your lovely reviews**

So, tomorrow comes the next chapter, at least I think it will, it depends on if I have internet tomorrow evening as well or not -.-' I do promise that next chapter will contain Hinata, even if it comes tomorrow or not ;)

P.S. Sorry if there are any grammar or spelling mistakes (more than usual). I'm tired at the moment so I didn't read through as good as I should have


	31. Chilly

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto**

**A/N: The next chapter, as I said in the last one I would upload this today already since it took so long before the last chapter. And as promised there will be Hinata! … if you can think of the situation with Hinata as a situation… -.-'**

**Then I just want to answer bobbetter's question, I never said how old she was. You will however get the answer in this chapter

* * *

**

Chapter 31: Chilly

It turned out that Tori didn't have much of a chakra control. Because of that they didn't truly manage to draw out the Gobi's chakra that day.

"We can't take too much time. We need to get back to the Hokage" Rin said after a while.

"Okay" Tori said as she panted. Even though she hadn't moved she was tired from consuming so much chakra. The idea with it was to get even more chakra, instead she had just lost her own.

"One more thing though" Rin then said.

"What?" Tori asked her as she stood up straight.

"The Bijuu can communicate with each other through their thoughts. Therefore Jinchuuriki can as well. The only thing needed is a chakra control good enough since in reality their communicating through chakra signals" Rin explained. Tori looked at her shocked.

"You mean we are able to talk through each other through our thoughts?" She asked flabbergasted.

"Yeah, the only thing that's needed is for us to establish a connection between each other, then we can easily communicate" Naruto explained.

"Connection? How do you establish that?" she asked.

"It's not hard. Just relax now and I'll establish it between us" she said.

Tori stood there still as she suddenly felt an alien chakra within herself. She realized that this had to be Rin's chakra. Still yet she felt uneasy, knowing that somebody else's chakra was within her body.

"_So, now it's done" _Rin said.

Tori thought it sounded somewhat strange before she realized that the words had only echoed through her head. Naruto hadn't been able to hear the words.

"Oh, shit" she exclaimed shocked as realization hit her.

"Yeah, it's cool. Isn't it?" Rin asked her with a smile. Tori felt how a smile spread on her own lips.

"Yeah" she then said nodding.

"Now, since neither of you two have any good chakra control it complicates things" Rin then said, sounding thoughtful.

"Can't you do anything Rin-chan?" Naruto asked her.

"Yeah, like what?" she asked him.

"Well, since you have established a connection with both me and Tori-chan shouldn't you be able to control our chakra with your kekkei-genkai?" he asked her sounding a little bit unsure. Tori reacted at the suffix he had used. He already found himself comfortable enough to call her –chan?

"_Don't take the suffix to hard" _she could hear Rin say in her head.

"I guess that could work" she could hear Rin say outwards.

"Okay then. Both of you relax now" she then said as she stretched outwards and felt after their chakra.

Tori once again felt Rin's chakra within her own body. Only this time it was even more uncomfortable as she now also rearranged Tori's own chakra.

Soon she felt a third chakra within her body. It was accompanied by Rin's chakra so quite logically it was Naruto's chakra. Then they both left her body.

"_Did it work?" _She could now hear Naruto say in her head. She smiled at him and nodded.

"So, Tori. You try say something. Just search outwards for our chakra and then think whatever you want to say" Rin explained. Tori nodded and started to do as he was told.

"_Can you hear me?" _they could soon both her within their heads.

"Good. Now you know how to as well" Rin said with a nod.

"Well, let's get back now. We need to talk with Oba-chan and I'm starving" Naruto said as he turned around and started to walk towards Konoha.

* * *

The meeting with Tsunade went fairly quickly.

They told Tsunade more about Tori and the Gobi just as the Hokage informed Tori more on the situation she was in.

It was also decided that Tori was to live with Rin for the time being, until Tsunade was certain that she could trust the girl.

* * *

"Let's go grab something to eat. I've been starving since we got back" Naruto said as they exited the Hokage Building.

"Yeah. I feel like barbeque. You know any good places?" Rin said. Naruto turned around and looked shocked at her.

"You can't be seriously thinking that I will eat anything but Ichiraku's ramen" he said.

"We always eat ramen. I'm tired of it" Rin replied.

"But, Rin-chan" Naruto whined.

"Let's eat ramen if he wants it so bad" Tori almost pleaded to Rin.

"No. Won't do it. I will make you eat something else for once" Rin said pointing at Naruto.

At the sight of his fearful gaze she laughed out loud, an evil laugh. A laugh that made you think your doom was near. Naruto's look turned in to a perplexed one.

"What the fuck are you doing Rin-chan?" he asked her. She stopped immediately and looked at him, she snorted shortly a little offended before she spoke.

"Nothing, just thought I'd play along with the mood" she said as she started to walk down the street. Naruto shook his head before following her.

* * *

Despite Naruto's pleas they ended up not eating ramen, instead they had barbeque just as Rin had wanted.

Naruto muttered slightly as he took the first bite of his meal. Rin on the other hand made a sound that made it obvious how much she enjoyed the meal, obviously only to mess with Naruto.

Tori gulped down her food fast, really fast, before ordering even more. They both looked at her surprised as she gulped down her second serving. She noticed their gazes as she made herself ready to order a third serving.

"I'm hungry" she explained, smiling sheepishly.

"That would make sense, she has after all basically not eaten anything the last week. Being unconscious and all" they could hear someone say. They looked up to see Sakura standing there looking at them. Behind her stood Kiba and Shino.

"Sakura-chan" Naruto said as he scooted over to make room for the other three.

Luckily for Shino, Rin had been sitting on the other end of the booth, meaning that he could sit down next to her. As he did he gave her a quick peck on the lips and laid his arm on the backrest above her head.

Sakura and Kiba sat down on the other end next to Naruto.

"Everybody this is Bakudan Tori. She's from the Hidden Stone Village and is housing the Gobi" Naruto introduced her to everybody else. Tori looked at him accusingly, why did he just tell everybody about her?

"Tori this is Aburame Shino, Inuzuka Kiba and Haruno Sakura, you met her earlier" Naruto continued to introduce the others to her.

"Don't worry Tori-san. They already know about us and why we were going to get you" Rin said when she saw Tori's look. Kiba stretched his hand over the table and shook Tori's.

"Nice to meet you Tori-san" he greeted her.

"Nice to meet you too Kiba-san" she smiled at him.

"Hey, I didn't get that nice of a greeting when I came" Rin said, somewhat offended by him.

"Well, what can I say. I know who deserves respect" Kiba said playfully with a shrug. A loud bang could be heard as Rin kicked Kiba hard under the table. She shot him a glare as she did so.

"Please, don't fight" Tori basically pleaded the two of them as they glared at each other.

"Don't care about them" Naruto said as he waved them off and continued to eat.

"You know you shouldn't eat more now Tori-san" Sakura then said to Tori, taking her attention away from Rin and Kiba's little quarrel.

"Why not Sakura-san?" Tori asked her.

"You've been without food for days now, so your stomach has shrunk. If you eat too much too fast it won't be able to take in all the food and will explode. It's better if you start to eat more in a slower pace so it will get used to food" she explained to her. Tori blinked a little surprised.

"You mean my stomach could explode?" she asked clearly shocked at the information. Sakura nodded.

"So, you shouldn't eat anymore at the moment" she then concluded before she, Kiba and Shino made their orders.

"By the way, where's Hinata-chan? Since you both are here" Naruto asked, motioning towards Kiba and Shino. The dog boy looked at him with something similar to fear in his eyes.

"Ehm…" he started before Shino interjected.

"Clan business" he said in his monotone voice.

"What do you mean clan business?" Naruto asked him, ever curious. Shino looked up at him behind his sunglasses.

"Clan business" he repeated himself. Despite the fact that his tone was still monotone it held some kind of threat. Making it clear to Naruto that he shouldn't continue asking questions.

"Okay man, I was just asking" he said before continuing eating. The others followed suit and ate as well, except Tori who had eaten all of her food.

"Hey, by the way, Tori-san. How old are you anyway?" Kiba suddenly asked.

"Kiba" Sakura said accusingly as she hit him over his arm.

"What?" he asked his girlfriend.

"You don't just ask people about their age like that" she told him.

"What, but I was only wondering" he tried to explain himself.

"I don't mind" Tori interrupted them.

"I'm 18" she then answered his question.

Naruto sighed at the scene, knowing exactly how Hinata would have acted. At first she would inwardly have had a reaction similar to that of Sakura's. Then she would have giggled at Kiba when he tried to explain himself.

Looking out the window the blond boy thought about how much he missed his girlfriend.

Instead of the actual conversation at the table thoughts of her filled his mind.

He wondered why Shino had reacted the way he had when Naruto had asked about Hinata.

As he was looking at the people who walked pass their window he suddenly saw her. She was walking down the street together with Neji, surprisingly enough she wasn't wearing her usual clothes, but the white Hyuuga robes.

Naruto remembered the girl he had seen earlier during the day, but brushed away the thought. It didn't matter at the moment, his Hinata was outside the restaurant right now.

He felt how a smile spread across his face as he turned from the window.

"If you all will excuse me. I've got a girlfriend outside to greet" he said with a huge smile as jumped out of the booth before any of them could move. Shino's and Kiba's gazes meet.

"Shit" Kiba said, mirroring Shino's thoughts as they hurried out after Naruto.

"Hinata-chan" Naruto called out as he exited the restaurant. Both Neji and Hinata stopped and looked at him. He smiled widely at the girl standing there, ignoring the shills that went up his spine at her white gaze.

"Hello, Naruto-san" she said with a courteous smile as he got nearer. He had wanted to hug and kiss her but something told him not to. His smile turned in to a suspicious gaze as she looked at her.

"What happened?" he asked her after a while.

"What do you mean Naruto-san?" she asked him, still with the courteous smile. What was up with the suffix? he wondered. Why was she calling him –san?

"What's wrong Hinata?" he asked her.

"Nothing Naruto-san" she answered.

"You're not Hinata" he then said after a while. Her smile suddenly turned in to a glare.

"Are you accusing me of being an impostor?" she asked him angry.

"No" he said blankly.

"But you're not the Hinata that I love" he then said.

She flinched slightly at his words and blinked once. When she opened her eyes again they weren't white but their normal lavender color and were filled with emotions.

The next second she blinked again and her eyes were once more the white blank color.

He had been planning to tell her when getting home, that he loved her that is. Never before had he said those words to her, he hadn't realized that he did love her earlier. He had realized it as the explosion had been coming rolling their way.

Now he stood there, telling her something like that in this fashion. Something he definitely hadn't wanted to do. Still yet he told her now.

He had wanted a reaction from her that told him his Hinata was still there.

"Well, what a pity for you then Naruto-san" she said with the same courteous smile before she turned away from him and started to walk down the street again.

Neji started to follow before Naruto grabbed his arm. He looked back at him to tell him off, when seeing Naruto's sad face however he stopped.

"Please Neji, tell me what happened. What's wrong with Hinata?" Naruto pleaded to him.

"Nothing is wrong with Hinata-sama. She has merely realized her responsibility" Neji answered and tried to tug his arm free of Naruto's grip. The blond boy however held on, refusing to let go of Neji's arm.

"Please, Neji, just talk to me" he pleaded again, looking at Neji. The Hyuuga boy looked for a long time, seemingly thinking about what to do, before sighing once.

"Okay, go to the compound this evening and ask for me. I'll tell you what has happened" he answered. Naruto smiled at him.

"Thank you Neji" he said before letting go of the other boy's arm. When he did Neji hurried to turn away from him and catch up to Hinata.

--

Kiba and Shino looked at Naruto as he walked down the street.

They had not heard the conversation between him and the two Hyuuga cousins, still yet they could somewhat guess. Therefore they just let him walk away instead of trying to call him back to the restaurant.

"Should we have stopped him?" Kiba asked as he looked at the retreating back of Naruto.

"We couldn't have" Shino answered.

"Yeah, I know. I just thought that it might have been good if we did"

"Yeah, I know"

"What happened" Sakura asked them as she and the other girls reached them. Shino and Kiba turned around.

"Well, that's slightly complicated" Kiba answered.

"Let's go in" Shino said as he started to walk back to the restaurant again. Sakura looked at Kiba with a questioning glare.

"Just wait" he told her quietly before following Shino back inside.

* * *

Naruto just walked the streets of Konoha for a few hours.

He had lost track of time completely as he did so, just thinking about how much Hinata had changed and how chilly she had been towards him.

Then he looked up, seeing a big clock on one of the buildings.

"Shit" he said as he realized the time and quickly started to run towards the Hyuuga compound.

As he reached the building he stopped in front of the guards, trying to catch his breath. They looked at him curiously as he stood there, hands on knees and breathing heavily. After a while he stood up.

"I'm here to see Hyuuga Neji" he said to them, still breathing somewhat heavy.

"Does he expect you?" one of them asked him in their monotone way.

"Yes, just tell him that-" he started only to get interrupted.

"I know who you are. It's quite hard not to know who the demon is" the guard answered back at him with venom in his voice as he turned and walked in to the compound.

Naruto looked at him, feeling sad.

Of course they would recognize him as the demon. He should have expected that, still yet he hadn't.

The other guard didn't make any attempt to apologize for his fellow clansman, he just continued standing there, quietly.

It didn't take long before the guard came back, accompanied by Neji.

"Hello, Naruto-san" he greeted the blond boy.

"Hi there Neji" Naruto said with a smile, trying to keep up the façade that everything was fine.

"Should we go somewhere else maybe" Neji then said as he started to walk down the street.

--

They walked in silence to the Konoha Park.

At this time of the day it was empty except for the animals. Neji walked up to a bench and sat down. Naruto followed suit and sat down next to the Hyuuga prodigy.

Next to the bench stood a large tree, casting a shadow over them, even now in the darkness.

"What happened?" Naruto asked after a while, ending the silence. Neji sighed heavily as he thought about the earlier

"Hiashi is dead" he summed it up roughly.

"What?" Naruto asked him surprised.

"A member of the Hyuuga Council murdered him a few weeks back. At first it was said she was under a genjutsu. Then it was cleared out that wasn't the case. Apparently the old Council and Hiashi had gotten in to a quarrel about Hinata and her earlier trying. Hayami had then gotten so angry she had killed him because of his stubbornness resolving Hinata" Neji explained.

"Oh" was all Naruto could say at first.

"Well, I guess that explains somewhat how she was acting" he then said.

"Yes, it does. Especially since Hinata is now the head of the clan. She has a lot of responsibility that she did not earlier have" Neji then said. He didn't sound apologetic in any way that she had been so cold towards Naruto. The blond boy smiled a bit.

"I knew that she would get that title" he said. Neji looked at him a bit confused.

"She truly deserved that title" Naruto said as he looked up. As he did he could see the stars shining through the leaves of the trees. Here in the Park they weren't as thick in the forest so the image of the night sky could quite easily be seen.

"Thanks man" he then said.

"For what?" Neji asked him. Naruto looked down from the sky to Neji again.

"For telling me" he answered before he started to get up.

"Wait, Naruto. That's not quite all of it" Neji said, stopping Naruto. The blond boy looked over at Neji, his eyebrows creased in confusion.

"Her eyes, they're different" Neji continued.

"When Hiashi died another form of Byakugan was awoken within her. It had something to do with him dying for her. Her Byakugan now is far more advanced than any usual Byakugan. It's called ShirubaByakugan" Neji explained.

"So now she will be able to see things even better than earlier?" Naruto asked him.

"Yeah, plus one more thing. Apparently the ShirubaByakugan gives your eyesight one more ability. One that is supposed to differ from person to person"

"Okay, so what's Hinata's?" Naruto asked him.

"She hasn't discovered it yet. The only thing we know is that whatever this extra ability is it will have something to do with what her heart truly feels" Neji explained

"Okay, but. Why are you telling me this Neji?" Naruto then asked him.

"I don't really know. I guess it was fate telling me to" Neji said in his usual monotone way of calling upon fate. Naruto smiled a little bit.

"Okay, well thanks for telling me" Naruto said as he got up.

"What will you do now?" Neji asked him.

"I will try to win her back" Naruto said with a large smile. Something with his statement made it feel as if it was a promise.

"I will hold you to that" Neji said calmly before also getting up.

**A/N: There you go. Like it? **

**So, gotta say thank you to those of you who managed to review before this chapter . Thank you to: Ancient Kyubi, Nebula 1701, bobbetter and Pyx. Thank you! **

**Now I just want to say that I'm coming up with a KibaSaku, it's actually a side-story to "A Jinchuuriki's way" and takes place one year before this one starts. At the moment I just need a name to the story so I can start uploading the chapters '**

****

**Then for some reason I promised my yaoi-loving sister to write her a KankuKiba because her ears hurt -.-' … So I'm working on one of those as well..**


	32. Tugging Heart

**Disclaimer: I don't won Naruto**

**A/N: Another chapter Sry that I took so long despite the fact that I already had this chapter finished when I uploaded the latest chapters.. The thing was that when I went home from my dad's place I forgot to put the freaking document back to my memory stick from the computer -.-'**

**Thank you mamoru21 for your little correction of my Japanese grammar :P **

**mamoru21 informed me of the fact that it is not ShirubaByakugan, but Shiruba no Byakugan. So I have now changed it to that in all the following chapters and will later on change in earlier chapters when I correct every early chapter.. '**

**I guess I should explain something first…**

**In this chapter there will be parts were it says:**

_Tug!_

**This is Hinata's heart tugging at her to do something. If it says something after the **

'**Tug!' that action is what her heart wants her to do **

**Just wanted to explain that**

Chapter 32: Tugging Heart

Hinata had felt a tug at her heart when hearing Naruto's voice again.

It had been a month since the last time.

When hearing that sound she had just wanted to run towards it and hug the owner of the voice. She had wanted to hold on to him for an eternity.

Then the next second she had controlled herself.

She could not feel such things about him. It was not good for the clan if she acted on this old crush of hers.

Now she had a responsibility to her clan as the head of it and would marry within the clan. With somebody strong within the clan so that she would carry strong Hyuuga children.

Still yet, every time she closed her eyes Naruto was there behind her eyelids. And now when she knew that he was home again the temptation was bigger than ever, but she managed to hold on.

Even when he had said those three words – she couldn't make herself think those words, the destruction on her resolution would probably be too large if she did.

When Hayami had attacked her she had efficiently taken her out.

In her anger Hayami hadn't been very concentrated. Hinata on the other hand had been able to keep her cool. Therefore she had pretty easily landed a Jyuuken hit that made the older woman unconscious. And even now, two weeks later, she was still laying in the hospital after Hinata's punch in her abandonment.

After that single hit at Hayami no one else tried anything and Hinata was able to put together a new council, she was after all not ready to rule the entire clan on her own. On the council sat people within the clan whom she trusted, one of them being her cousin Neji. So with the help pf the older members on the new council she had started to learn how to lead the clan. She had taken to the formal Hyuuga robes and often used to stroll through town with one or more other Huuygas. Often they were members of the council who talked with her about the clan, either informing her about certain details or discussing the clan's future with her.

If they were not members of the council they were her personal guards, something that the council – with Neji in the front – had made her agree to. Personally she didn't see why she would need personal guards, especially not within the walls of Konoha. The council however found it necessary.

Today she was walking the streets with her four guards as she for the second time spotted Naruto. He was standing and talking with a group of people that consisted of Sakura, Rin, Kiba, Shino and some blond girl Hinata didn't recognize.

At the sight of his blond hair and orange clothes something in her tugged towards him, telling her to go to him and apologize for the earlier day.

She managed to fight the urge, but just barely. Knowing that she would be able to withstand for much longer if she stayed she turned around to walk away form there when she heard him call out to her.

"Hinata" at the sound of his voice the urge grew even stronger. One part of her told her to run to him and another told her to run to be able to hold on.

She compromised and merely turned around.

"Hinata" he said again as he reached her.

"Hi Naruto-san" she said, doing her best not to jump him right then and there. Her heart screamed out to her to stop acting this foolish way while her head told her that she couldn't love him.

She had too much of an obligation to her clan.

"Hinata… I'm sorry" Naruto said, sounding truly devastated.

_Tug; Comfort him!_

"For what?"

"I heard about Hiashi. And I'm sorry" he answered.

_Tug; don't be sorry Naruto!_

"I don't think you would have to be that" Hinata just hated her voice, as if she thought herself superior to Naruto.

"I'm sorry I wasn't there for you" he then said shocking her somewhat.

_Tug; don't be sorry Naruto! _

Instead of doing as she truly wanted she smiled as if being amused by him.

"And what good would that have done?" she asked him. His expression turned even sadder.

_Tug; Comfort him!_

"I know it might not have done much. But I still wish I wouldn't have left you alone" he told her.

Hinata just looked at him, still as if she was amused by idea.

"I mean. Hinata I love you!" he then said for the second time.

_Tug!_

_Tug!_

_Tug!_

The voice in her head turned incredibly low for a few seconds and she almost lost her hold on her self for the second time since he came back to Konoha.

"We're young. You should stop imagine yourself in love with people" Hinata said sounding stern before turning around.

Before she could walk away however Naruto grabbed her arm and yanked her back. He had been planning on hugging her but was stopped by one of Hinata's guards.

"Don't you lay a hand on Hinata-sama" the Hyuuga man said as he yanked away Naruto's hand before the blond boy could even blink.

"Thank you Mikeo" Hinata said before turning around, starting to walk away.

Her other three guards followed her.

Mikeo let go of Naruto and turned around without a word. He hadn't even taken one step before Naruto pushed him aside and rushed past him.

"Hinata" he screamed out as he raced after her. Hinata and her three guards just continued on walking. Mikeo on the other hand quickly ran after Naruto.

"Oi, stop right there" he screamed after Naruto. The blond boy turned his head to see Mikeo run after him.

"Kage Bunshin no Jutsu" he said as four kage bunshins popped out to take on Mikeo while the real Naruto kept running. Hinata who had been watching through her Byakugan had seen the whole thing.

"Washi, Name, go help Mikeo" she then said without stopping when she saw that Mikeo wasn't even able to take out four Kage Bunshins alone. (A/N: Name is not pronounced as name, but the e is more prominent)

The two mean nodded and quickly darted backwards as the only woman continued to walk beside Hinata.

Naruto easily made more Kage Bunshins and stopped with them to fight the two men.

In the midst of the fighting four different Naruto made it past the two men and started to run after Hinata. One of the men threw shuriken at all four of the Narutos thinking he would take out two flies in one beat. He would both stop the blond boy and find out who was really the blond boy out of the kage bunshins.

To his utter surprise all four of them poofed in to smoke. He looked confused as he turned around again just to see all of the other Narutos to rush past him too fast for him to catch right then.

"Hinata" all of them screamed. At the sight Hinata inactivated her Byakugan and turned around.

"Yumi" she said.

The woman at her side nodded and then took off towards all the Narutos. Hinata stood there and observed as Yumi took on the Narutos and managed to keep them at bay until Mikeo, Washi and Name caught up with them.

After a while of watching the three men and one woman fight against the many Narutos something started to change. Something within her told her that the Naruto she was watching wasn't actually him but a Kage Bunshin. The next second Washi landed a hit on the Naruto and the blond boy poofed away.

That feeling came several times and each time it turned out that she was right.

She looked at the fight with her eyebrows creased in confusion as she tried to figure out what was happening. She was so concentrated that she at first didn't notice how faint she was starting to get.

Then suddenly she realized that every breath was hard on her and it felt as if her chakra level was too low. She realized that she could see far more and better than she should without her Byakugan activated. Then it hit her, it was just like when she had gotten he Shiruba no Byakugan from the beginning.

For some reason chakra was constantly being applied to her eyes right then.

She hurriedly activated her Byakugan to make it stop. To her dismay she felt how it just continued instead. As a last resort she also activated her Shiruba no Byakugan and hoped it would stop.

Luckily enough for her it did. She was low on chakra still but the extreme consumption of it stopped immediately. Breathing out in relief she looked up at the fight again. To her surprise she could now easily see who was the real Naruto, all the other ones looked like normal bunshins do to the Byakugan.

'_What's happening?' _she wondered as she came to think about something. The Shiruba no Byakugan was supposed to give you one new ability that had to do with your heart.

Did her heart really want Naruto so much that the new ability was based on his key jutsu?

Something told her she was right, this was her extra ability.

_Tug; stop them! _

At the realization she didn't want to do anything else than stop their fight.

Still yet she once again managed to hold on, stand still and just observe as Yumi was nearing the real Naruto... She was nearing the real Naruto?

_Tug!_

_Tug!_

_Tug!_

_Tug! Tug! Tug!_

Hinata leaped out from her position and quickly positioned herself in front of the real Naruto with her back turned towards him. Her hands came up in a seal and the next second Yumi fell down in pain in front of Hinata's feet as she had activated the caged bird mark.

The head of the Hyuuga clan immediately dropped the seal and kneeled down in front of Yumi.

"I'm so sorry Yumi" she said as she removed a bang from Yumi's face. The woman laid there with a coat of sweat on her face, breathing heavily.

"I had to do it. I needed to stop you before you hurt him. You see, if you would've done that I might be told that I have to punish you for hurting him too badly" Hinata said in a soft voice as she stroked the woman across her forehead.

"And it would hurt me even worse if I would have to do that" she said with a weak smile to the woman who smiled back in the same fashion. Hinata then stood up.

"Help her up" she ordered her other guards before turning around to Naruto.

"I would appreciate it if you wouldn't try to hurt my clansmen" she told him, suddenly sounding stern once more. The difference was big to the voice she had used with the hurt Yumi.

"I knew you were still there" was all he said.

"What?" Hinata asked him sounding almost disgusted.

Naruto was breathing heavily and looked beat up as he watched her, his eyes full of love.

_Tug; tend to him!_

"The way you spoke to her. It was you again" he said as he took a step closer to her.

Hinata tried to make herself step away from him but her heart managed to make her stand still.

_Tug!_

"Stop talking nonsense. I'm me and have always been!" she told him, still yet she knew that he was somewhat right; she had changed since Hiashi's death but she couldn't allow herself to turn back into the girl she used to be.

"You sure?" Naruto asked as he stepped even closer.

_Tug!_

"Of course" Hinata did everything in her power to stay angry.

Everything in her screamed to her close the last few inches between their bodies. She would however never get to know what would win the fight since Naruto closed them before her. He then immediately started to lower his head towards her slowly.

_Tug!_

_Tug!_

_Tug!_

_Tug! Tug! Tug!_

It didn't matter how much her head fought against it, her heart still yet managed to win and she stood still as he kissed her. The moment his lips met her she realized what happened and pushed him away.

"How dare you to-" she started to ask him but was interrupted by his lips on hers for a second time. This time he threw his arms around her waist and locked her to him in a steel grip.

_Tug! Tug! Tug! Tug! Tug! Tug!_

She tried to resist him and his warmth. Soon however she felt how her lips started to melt and move with his. Her hands came up and grabbed the side of his head as she kissed him back with a greater fervor than ever before.

**A/ N: Hmm… Is Hinata back or not? **

**The now usual thank you here for those who reviewed the last chapter: GraityTheWizard, Ancient Kyubi, bobbetter, Roebert Damme, Darth-Taisha, mamoru21 and xVampireloverx thank you guys for your reviews **

**Then I also received reviews for chapter 1 and 9 from Jolly Rancher and forbiddenluv4Naruto, thank you even though Jolly Rancher probably won't read this since his review was a flame of the summary that said he hadn't actually read the first chapter and flamed since I said readers could, at the end of the chapter ……… -.-'**


	33. Hinata is back

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto**

**A/N: Really sorry for the late update! The thing was I wanted to at least try to get somewhere with chapter 34 before uploading this chapter since otherwise you would have to wait really long for the next one since I'm slightly unsure of the details of what's going to happen from now on in the story. And then suddenly it was too late for me to update before my trip to England. Then I got home Thursday and didn't manage to update until now -.-'**

* * *

Chapter 33: Hinata is back

Naruto felt like jumping around and screaming out of joy when he felt Hinata kiss back, instead he answered all her fervor with his own.

Too soon he felt her break away from him. His heart started to crack slightly that she still didn't want him. She did however not break away entirely, she had just needed air.

As she breathed heavily she rested her forehead against his and smiled at him.

"Hi" he said to her as he looked deep in to her lavender eyes.

"Hi" she smiled back to him.

"I missed you" he told her. She just stood there quietly for a while as her expression changed in to a sad one.

"I missed you too" she said after a while as the tears broke through. Naruto pressed her to himself as she sobbed against his jacket.

"I'm sorry" she wailed against him.

"That's alright" he said as he just held her.

"I was awful" she continued to wail as he just held her and let her get rid of it all.

"I was so mean to you"

"It's alright now" he told her.

Two of her guards walk up to him as the third man stayed behind, helping the woman to stand up.

Naruto looked up at them, feeling how a growl almost slipped out from his lips as his grip on Hinata hardened slightly. All four of them wore the white Hyuuga robes and proudly showed of their caged bird marks. One of them was really tall and muscular, looking unnaturaly bulky for a Hyuuga. The other one was shorter but still yet quite tall and his features were more delicate.

"Hinata-sama?" The smaller on of them said. There was something gentle about his voice that made Naruto react. He could feel how Hinata started to push against his chest and he reluctantly let go of her. She turned around sniffling and looked at her two guards.

"Yes Whasi?" she asked him.

"Are you alright?" he asked her in that same gentle voice. Naruto didn't know how to react to the voice, one part of him relaxed by it; this Whasi clearly cared for Hinata. Another part of him wanted to growl and show him that she belonged to Naruto, it seemed as if he cared for her a little too much. Naruto remembered that Whasi had clearly been the strongest of the group.

"Yes, I'm fine Whasi" Hinata said with a smile. Whasi smiled back at her as he put a hand on her shoulder. That little gesture made Naruto's blood boil, still yet he didn't do anything; he did after all not really know where he and Hinata stood at the moment.

"How are you?" Hinata then asked Whasi, her voice full of worry.

"I'm just fine" he answered with a smile that told her not to worry about him. Hinata nodded as she turned to the other man. Naruto remembered him as Mikeo, the one who had stopped him at first.

"How are you Mikeo?" she asked the other man, her voice still full of worry.

"Don't worry about me Hinata-sama" the man answered, his voice was also gentle. Telling Naruto that this man did as well care of Hinata, still yet it didn't make Naruto want to growl the way Whasi did. Hinata quickly pushed past them and walked over to the remaining two of her guards. As she did Naruto caught Whasi's gaze, the man looked at him with anger and disgust in difference to Mikeo who wasn't even paying Naruto attention.

"I'm so sorry Yumi. How are you" Hinata asked, suddenly her voice took on a whole different level of worry as she talked to the only woman in the group. Naruto remembered that she had been the second strongest to Whasi, whatever had put her in that state must have hurt and suddenly he understood how bad Hinata must feel for putting Yumi in that state.

"I'm just fine Hinata-sama" The woman said as she stood there, being supported by the man.

"I'm so sorry Yumi" Hinata said again as she surprised all of them and bowed to the woman.

"Please, forgive me" she begged.

"I will always forgive you Hinata-sama" Yumi said with a smile as she looked at the top of her leader's head. Hinata looked up at her with a smile.

"Thank you" she said before turning to her last guard.

"I'm fine, thank you Hinata-sama" he said before she could ask him. Hinata breathed out and smiled to him.

"That's good Name" she said. Then she turned around again towards Naruto. As their eyes met he knew that this was not going to be easy, but her lavender eyes told him that he would probably be able to turn her back. The next moment, she collapsed.

* * *

Naruto paced in the emergency room as the four Hyuuga Guards sat still.

"Hey, won't you just relax" Whasi suddenly said, sounding very incredibly irritated at the blond boy and his pacing.

"I'm sorry for being nervous" Naruto retorted, least say just as irritated as Whasi "The girl I love is in there" he then informed Whasi, he didn't know what made him say it, he just felt that he needed to inform Whasi of that fact. Whasi glared at Naruto and looked as if he would attack the blond boy any second now.

"Just relax. I'm sure Hinata-sama will be fine" Name interrupted the two of them before any of them would get hurt. Naruto looked pissed but still yet took a deep breath and sat down on the other side of the corridor. Whasi merely snorted as he looked away from Naruto.

"You mean that?" Yumi suddenly asked, her voice was very gentle and she was looking at Naruto. All of them looked up at her questioningly.

"What? You mean me?" Naruto asked her when he noticed her gaze.

"Yeah, do you mean it when you say you love Hinata-sama?" she asked him, something about her gentle tone told him that she really wanted to know. And that she wouldn't beat the crap out of him later just to keep him away from Hinata. Naruto glanced slightly at Whasi – he was still looking another way. He wasn't so sure about what Whasi would do however.

"Yeah" he then decided to say as he looked back at Yumi. The Hyuuga girl's gaze was gentle as she nodded with a small smile on her lips.

"She didn't know" she then said.

"What?" Naruto asked her.

"Hinata-sama didn't know that you did" she said. Naruto just looked at her questioningly without saying anything.

"She told me. We use to talk a lot with each other. She told me very much about you. All of them were good thing, it was quite obvious that she loves you" Yumi explained. Whasi snorted once again. Naruto just smiled at her.

"Yeah, well I just wish that I could still say it was that obvious" he then said after a while.

"She shouldn't love you" Whasi then said after a while. Naruto looked at him questioningly.

"It's not good for the clan" Whasi continued, still without looking at any of them.

"Hey, stop that Whasi" Name said sounding irritated. Whasi just shrugged.

"It's true" There was something about his tone that almost made Naruto feel pity for him. Almost.

"It's not good for the clan if she has a relationship with anybody at the moment. And then she should marry someone strong within the clan. It would be for the best" Whasi continued.

Naruto felt heavy inside, he knew that Whasi was right. The best thing for the Hyuuga clan would be that.

Probably also the best for Hinata since it would make her entire life so easy. Still yet, he didn't know if he could do that. If he loved her enough. Enough to let her go and find happiness somewhere else, a happiness that would make her entire life so much easier later on.

He did however know that if he let her go she would probably end up with Whasi, and there was something with that thought that just made him so angry. Just thinking about it made the Kyuubi feel dangerously close to taking control over Naruto.

Then a doctor stepped out of the room which Hinata was in. They all stood up at the sight of him.

"How is she sensei?" Yumi asked for all of them. The doctor smiled at them.

"She's just fine. For some reason she had a great loss of chakra and is at the moment still asleep" the doctor explained. All of them breathed out in relief.

"Can we see her?" Naruto then asked him.

"Yes, you may see her. She is however still asleep. And you will not try to wake her! Is that clear?" The doctor asked them. All of them nodded before he let them in to the room.

There, on the bed, Hinata was lying asleep. Since she wasn't sick, merely exhausted, there wasn't any medical equipment attached to her. She was just lying there. At the sight of her Naruto felt how he grew calm and he realized just how worried he had been.

* * *

When she woke up Hinata didn't remember what had happened at first.

Then it all came to her.

Naruto had fought her guards, and her Shiruba no Byakugan could see which the real one was. Her heart's true wish had made her eyes' new ability that of seeing the difference between a person and their kage bunshins.

She had then stepped in and stopped Yumi through the caged bird mark. She felt how guilt burned through her but she forced herself to push it aside at the moment as she tried to remember what happened then.

Naruto had kissed her and she had kissed him back.

At the memory she shot up in to a sitting position with a gasp as she looked around. She was in a dark room, from the furnishing and color-choices she could guess that she was in a hospital. As she looked around she saw Naruto and Whasi sitting in two chairs, sleeping.

At the sight of the blond boy she felt calm and relaxed, she felt at home suddenly. She realized that she hadn't for the last month since he left on a mission. Quickly she crawled out of bed and walked over to his chair. She kissed him tenderly on his forehead once.

"So, you really love him?" she could hear someone say. At the sound she jumped and turned there. When she did she could see that Whasi was sitting awake and looking at her. Guilt washed through her as she remembered that she and the council had decided that she and Whasi were to marry later on. She looked down at the floor.

"I-I'm s-sorry, W-w-whasi" she said.

"What do you see in him anyway?" Whasi asked her, almost sounding angry. Still yet Hinata wasn't afraid.

"I-I don't know r-really. I used to w-want t-to b-be like him. That confident and uncaring. I g-guess everything w-with him t-that made people t-think b-badly of him made me a-admire him e-even more" she said gently as she looked at Naruto.

"What about the clan?" he asked her. Another wave of guilt went through her.

"I will make sure that I do everything for the clan. With our without Naruto at my side" Hinata stated, suddenly sounding more confident as her stuttering stopped.

"What about me?" she could hear Whasi say quietly, the sadness in his voice very much palpable.

"I'm sure you'll find someone" Hinata said gently as she walked up to him.

"I don't see why you couldn't. Your strong, nice, caring, loyal and so much more" Hinata said, still sounding confident. And she was, she was absolutely confident about Whasi's all good traits.

"Plus, you've got one hell of a kick" Hinata added a little jokingly. Whasi chuckled a little bit at the joke, still yet Hinata could hear that he was pretty close to tears.

"Yeah, it is pretty good isn't it?" he asked her in the same fashion.

"Is it alright if I resign?" he then asked her. Her smile went faint as she looked down on the floor. She had gotten attached to her guards and the thought of losing one of them hurt.

"Of course Whasi" she said, knowing that it was what he needed.

"Thank you Hinata-sama" he said as he stood up.

"You don't need to call me that Whasi" Hinata told him as she looked up at her previous guard.

"I know. But it just wouldn't feel right any other way" he said with a smile which she answered. Then he took a hold of her neck and gave her a kiss on the forehead before walking out of the room.

She looked after him with sadness, knowing that they probably wouldn't see much of each other, despite belonging to the same clan.

After a while of just standing there she crawled back in to bed and fell asleep, watching Naruto's sleeping form.

* * *

The next morning when Naruto woke he noticed that Hinata was sitting up in bed, eating her breakfast.

"Hinata" he said as he darted over to the bed quickly "You're awake" he said, grabbing her face between his hands in pure joy. Before he could think he leaned down and kissed her. The next second he realized what he did and quickly let go of her, jumping back from the bed.

"I'm sorry Hinata" he said, hoping that she wasn't back the chilly girl that had greeted him when he came back to Konoha two days ago. Instead her eyes were warm and lavender colored as she smiled at him.

"That's alright Naruto. I'm glad to see you too" she said to him. His mouth turned in to a large smile as he once again walked over to her bed, this time in a more human pace.

"You can't imagine how much I missed you" he said as he once more took her face in his hands and kissed her.

"None of that right now. Hinata-sama needs to eat to restore her health" somebody said from the door. As they looked up they could see Yumi standing there with Name behind her.

"Yumi" Hinata said happily as the other Hyuuga woman smiled at them.

"I'm happy to see that you're awake and alright Hinata-sama" the woman said as she walked in to the room.

"We were so worried Hinata-sama" Name said as he followed Yumi. They sat down in one chair each.

"Where's Mikeo?" Hinata asked them, sounding slightly worried.

"Whasi's keeping him busy" Yumi asked. At the mention of Whasi Naruto noticed how Hinata's expression turned sad. There was a soft knock from the door where a nurse stood.

"I'm sorry. I was just wondering if you were ready with you breakfast?" she asked as she walked in to the room.

"Yes, thank you" Hinata said with a smile to the nurse.

"How is he?" Hinata then asked Yumi.

"By the way" Naruto said as he jogged up to the nurse before Yumi could answer Hinata's question "Is Haruno Sakura in today?" Naruto asked the nurse, already knowing the answer.

"No, I'm sorry sir. She isn't working this week" the nurse answered.

"Is there a phone I could use and call her?" he asked her.

"Well, of course. I'm sorry to ask but is there any special reason?" she asked him.

"I was thinking that maybe she could check Hinata. I'm sure her current doctors are really skilled but I'm more than positive that she will be able to determine Hinata's chakra level without even looking at her" Naruto answered.

"Oh, alright then" the nurse answered before leading Naruto out of the room.

"Naruto wait" Hinata called out to him before he walked out.

"Yeah?" he asked her and turned his head.

"I love you" she said to him. He smiled at her.

"Yeah, I love you too" he said before walking out. Hinata sighed as the door closed. Then she turned back to Yumi.

"How is he?" she asked her once again.

"You know Whasi. Trying to keep up façade that everything's alright" Yumi said. Hinata nodded in understanding.

"He was really worried you know" Name said.

"Name" Yumi said as she gave him a punch in the side.

"T-that's alright Yumi. I-it's only t-the truth" Hinata said. Yumi looked up at Hinata, her expression somewhat sad.

"He never left your side" Name continued.

"How long was I out?" Hinata asked him.

"For two days" Name answered.

"Hey, don't forget. Naruto-san was there at her side too" Yumi shot in, trying to sound scolding as she faced Name.

"Yeah, I know. He was probably even more worried. Not only about your well being but also how you would be when you woke up Hinata-sama" Name said as he looked up at Hinata.

"He truly loves you. He was ready to give you up if you said you didn't want him there" Name added, looking in to her eyes. Hinata just smiled.

"Yeah, I know" she said.

--

The nurse led Naruto down to the front desk.

"Tayumi-san could you please lend the phone to Uzumaki-san here?" she asked the receptionist. The blond girl looked up at him with her green eyes.

"Of course" she said with a smile before picking up a phone and put it on the counter.

"Thanks Tayumi-san" Naruto said with a smile.

"No problem honey" Tayumi said as Naruto started to dial Sakura's number. He had to wait three signals before somebody picked up on the other line.

"Sakura here" he could hear his team mate say on the other line.

"Sakura-chan" he said.

"Naruto? Where are you? You've been gone for two days" Sakura said, sounding slightly worried.

"I'm at the hospital with Hinata" Naruto told her.

"The hospital? Are you guys hurt?" she asked him, clearly worried now.

"We're alright, Hinata had a chakra loss two days ago and woke up today. I was thinking that maybe you could come here and take over her as a patient. I mean with your new ability and all it wouldn't be hard for you to check her chakra level" Naruto explained to her.

"Of course, anything for a friend" Sakura replied.

"Thanks. By the way. Can you call Kiba and tell him that Hinata's back?" he asked her.

"Okay, I'll do so and then I'll be at the hospital right away" Sakura replied before they hung up.

"Thanks for the loan Tayumi-san" Naruto said as he gave her the phone back.

"Oh please, don't call me –san honey. I hate it" Tayumi said.

"You got it Tayumi-chan" he said with a smile.

"By the way, was that Haruno Sakura you were talking with?" Tayumi then asked him.

"Yeah, how did you know?"

"Well, first of all there aren't many Sakuras working here, and then when you mentioned her boyfriend Kiba there couldn't be anyone else" she said.

"You know about Kiba?" he asked her.

"Yeah, I and Haruno-sensei talk all the time. And everybody knows about Kiba here" she explained. Naruto looked at her confused.

"How come?" he asked her.

"You don't know?" she sounded very shocked at this.

"Know what?"

"How he came here and basically screamed out his love for her" Tayumi answered with a huge smile.

"It was so adorable" she then added as her gaze turned dreamy.

"He did what?" Naruto asked her shocked. She looked at him with a smile.

"I shouldn't have told you even that honey. You should ask him instead. It isn't really my story to tell" she said with a wink before turning back to the papers in front of her.

"Hey, you gotta tell me Tayumi-chan" he tried.

"Tell you what?" Sakura suddenly asked, standing right next to him.

"Wooa" he said as he jumped a little.

"Tell him what Tayumi?" Sakura asked the receptionist.

"I'm sorry Haruno-sensei. I slightly told him about Kiba" Tayumi said in an apologizing way.

"Oh, nothing worse?" Sakura asked him.

"Nope" Tayumi said, shaking her head.

"Good. Now I need you to check me in and then change Hyuuga Hinata to my patient" Sakura explained to Tayumi.

"Hai, Haruno-sensei"

"How come you're working today?" Tayumi asked her as she pressed the buttons on her computer.

"I'm not working entirely. I'm only gonna take Hinata-chan. She's a friend of mine and it'll be much easier for me to decide her chakra level then her current doctor" Sakura explained.

"Okay, done. You are now officially in" Tayumi then said with a smile to Sakura, reaching her a chart.

"Thanks Tayumi. Come now Naruto" Sakura said as she looked at the chart before starting to walk away from the front desk.

"Bye Tayumi-chan" Naruto said.

"Bye honey" she said as he turned around and walked after Sakura.

"So it was true?" Naruto asked Sakura as he caught up to her.

"Was what true?" Sakura asked him.

"The thing about Kiba basically screaming out his love for you" Naruto answered.

"Yes" Sakura asked bluntly.

"What? But Hinata told me of how nervous he was when asking you out for the first time" Naruto said surprised.

"Yeah, well. The circumstances weren't exactly good when he came to the hospital. So for his sake we decided not to tell anybody" Sakura answered.

"You did? Wow, but what do you mean bad circumstances?" Naruto asked her.

"That is something I won't tell you" Sakura said.

"Ah, but come on Sakura-chan" Naruto begged.

"Nope" Sakura said bluntly.

"Oh, yeah. By the way did you called Kiba?" Naruto asked her as he suddenly remembered about that.

"Yeah" Sakura answered.

"Okay. So, what did he say?" Naruto continued to ask when Sakura didn't say anything more.

"He said that he's not coming right now. That it would be better to wait for a little while" Sakura answered.

"Why?" Naruto asked her confused.

"I don't know. He didn't tell me exactly why. Just that it was something weird with their team at the moment" Sakura said.

"Wha-" Naruto started but Sakura interrupted him.

"I don't know Naruto. Just let if go for now" Sakura said.

When they entered Name and Yumi stood up from their chairs. Sakura took no notice of them as she walked up to Hinata.

"Hi Hinata-chan. How are you feeling?" she asked the Hyuuga girl.

"I'm fine Sakura-chan" Hinata answered with a smile.

"Well you certainly seem fine. I guess I'll just go ahead and sign you out" Sakura said with a wink.

* * *

Tsunade was as usual sitting in her office, drinking sake and being bored. Since she hated paperwork she basically never did any. So the only thing left for her to do was to sit there and stare out the window… and drink sake of course.

"Hello Tsunade dear" Jiraiya said as he suddenly walked through her open window.

"What is it with you and Kakashi? Never learnt how to use a door?" Tsunade asked him without looking up before she took a sip of her sake.

"So, so Tsunade dear. There's no time being angry now. I've got important information" Jiraiya said.

"You do? Okay then, what is it?" Tsunade asked him, looking at him for the first time. To her surprise his expression had turned grim.

"The Akatsuki is heading this way"

* * *

**A/N: I hope you liked the chapter! I know it's slightly slow and many of you probably expected a little more trouble before Hinata just "gave up". The real "problem" with the story isn't a problem in their relationship however and has more to do with the name of the story **

**And now the usual thank you to Pyx, GraityTheWizard, bobbetter, Ancient Kyubi and Darth-Taisha thank you guys for your lovely reviews **


	34. A soothing calm

**Disclaimer: I still don't own Naruto!! **

**A/N: I know you had to wait quite some time for this chapter... You should be happy that it came now though. It's quite long, that is to make up for the fact that the next chapter isn't particularly close yet -.-' I still haven't started on it yet, and things will really get going in the next chapter (was my idea) so therefore I will have to study up on some of the characters. Plus, my school started today and the timetable looks anything but relaxing '**

**Thank you very much .xXx.hikari.midnight.xXx. for recommending this story to your readers **

**Ancient Kyubi, the unusual Kiba story that you referred to will get its answers if you read my sidestory **_**To Change his mind **_**that will probably start coming up soon. It's a KibaSaku that takes place one year before the start of **_**A Jinchuuriki's way**_**.**

* * *

Chapter 34: A soothing calm

Naruto and Hinata were sitting in the garden of the Hyuuga compound. They were alone and had been sitting there in silence for a long time now. Instead of saying anything they had just been sitting there on the veranda that surrounded the entire house.

"Hinata" Naruto broke off the silence "what happened?" he asked her after a while. Instead of answering him she looked down at the ground. To him it looked as if she felt guilty.

"Please Hinata, tell me" he begged her.

"Don't you already know?" she asked him without looking up at him.

"All I know is basically that Hiashi was killed" Naruto said "Please, Hinata, I need to know" he begged of her when she neither looked up nor spoke.

"Why?" she asked him "You shouldn't have to worry about that" she added before he could answer.

"Yes I should" he claimed.

"Why should you?" she asked him. He took a hold of her chin and forced her to turn her head towards him. She did however avert her gaze in a last attempt not to look at him.

"Look at me" he told her gently. After a while she turned her eyes towards him and met his gaze.

"Because I love you" he told her before leaning in and kissed her gently.

"Please, tell me" he said before kissing her again. She sighed once.

"Okay" she said, sounding heavy.

Then she started to tell him of everything that had happened. How she had collapsed during her mission, how she had woken up in the hospital and had gotten to know about the Shiruba no Byakugan. How Tsunade then had told her about Hiashi and how she had broken down and cried for an entire day before encountering the Hyuuga council.

"You can't image how I felt when you came back" she said to him. He was still holding her close, he had however let go of her face.

"I can't?" he asked her.

"No, I just wanted to run to you so much. To show you my love again, still yet I couldn't. I told myself that it wouldn't be good for the clan and I would have to think about all my clan members since they are now my responsibility. I felt so broken, standing there, watching you and still yet unable to do anything more" Hinata said, and she truly felt heartbroken.

Naruto wanted to tell her how he had felt and that she hadn't been alone. He didn't however; he knew that instead of having the desired effect it would only give her feelings of guilt.

"Then when you told me that you loved me. I was so close to break there. Some way however I managed to hold on" she said. He just sat there silently as she continued.

"It was true torture, watching you fight with Washi, Name, Yumi and Mikeo. Still yet I just stood there watching coldly until…" suddenly she went silent.

"Until what?" he asked her.

"Until… until I could see you" she said.

"See me?" her gaze averted for a while.

"You know that I said the Shiruba no Byakugan holds one new ability that differs from person to person?" she asked him.

"Yeah, Neji told me about that as well" Naruto said.

"Yes, well. It seems as if my ability is to see difference between a person and its kage bunshins" Hinata explained before looking back at him. Naruto looked at her a little confused.

"Something in me told me that it had to do w-with you. I love you so much that m-my new a-ability has to do with you" she said as she looked away slightly in embarrassment. Naruto just looked at her for a while before grabbing her neck and quickly brought down his lips on hers.

"Ahem" somebody said, interrupting them. Naruto looked up to see a slightly irritated Neji.

"Yo" Naruto greeted him without letting go of Hinata. Instead he calmly put his chin on top of Hinata's head and looked up at him slightly questioningly, just to see Neji's reaction. Just as Naruto had thought Neji seemed slightly more irritated, but still yet didn't say anything.

"N-Naruto, let go of me" Hinata told him as she tried to make him release her.

"All right, all right" Naruto said jokingly after a while as he let go of her. As soon as he had she stood up and faced Neji.

"Good day Hinata-sama" he said as he bowed to her.

"Good day Neji-niisan" Hinata greeted him back with a smile.

"The daily council meeting will start soon" Neji told her.

"Hai, thank you for telling me Neji-niisan" Hinata replied.

"Daily council meeting? What's that?" Naruto asked as he stood up.

"It's a meeting with the council that is held every day" Hinata answered.

"Huh, every day? Isn't that a little often?" Naruto replied.

"It' s only for now, when I get more used to my position it won't have to be so frequent" Hinata explained.

"Really, so that means it's not really necessary today?" Naruto asked as he suddenly turned to Neji.

"W-what do you mean?" Hinata asked him a little unsure. Instead of answering her Naruto continued to look at Neji.

"I'm not sure what you mean" Neji told him. Naruto smirked a little bit before embracing 

Hinata from behind, looking at Neji over her shoulder.

"I mean that it wouldn't hurt if I took her today instead of her going to the meeting" Naruto answered.

"Hey, N-Naruto" Hinata said as she tried to make him let go. He did however not budge and held on hard to her as he smirked at Neji. Her older cousin stood there and looked at them for a while before speaking.

"Why would you take her for today?" he asked him.

"Because I've missed her and I think that it wouldn't hurt her to have some vacation. It doesn't seem as if you couldn't handle it on your own" Naruto answered, ignoring Hinata's attempt to break free.

"Well, I don't see any harm in that" Neji said after a while. Suddenly Hinata froze in Naruto's arms and looked shocked up at her cousin.

"W-what?" she asked him, unable to form any other words.

"Good" was all Naruto said before darting up on the roof and out of the compound that way, still with Hinata in his arms.

* * *

Shizune walked in to the Hokage's office with a stash of documents in her arms, TonTon faithfully walking behind her as always.

"Tsunade-sa-" she started to say as she walked through the door. At the sight of the empty chair behind the desk however she stopped mid-sentence.

"Huh? Where's Tsunade-sama?" she asked no one in particular as she walked up to the desk. There she saw a note addressed to her.

_Shizune, you will have to use a henge and take my place while I'm out of town  
__Tsunade_

Shizune's eyes grew large in disbelief as she read the note. Did that woman seriously think that Shizune would help her so that she could drink her booze? Angry and insulted she dumped the documents on the desk and walked towards the door, nose high in the air. To her dismay however she found that the door was locked.

"What the?" she asked to herself as she tried to jerk the door open without any effect.

Then, suddenly, in front of her eyes a note started to appear on the door. It was another one addressed to Shizune from Tsunade.

_You will have to use a henge and take my place for a while.  
__I have placed a jutsu upon this door that makes anyone that doesn't look like me unable to walk out from my office.  
__Then once you have exited the door the jutsu will make sure that your henge is permantent until I come back and end the jutsu on the door.  
You just have to take my place_

Shizune read it with surprise. Had Tsunade really been able to go that far just to get out of town and gamble? The answer was obvious, yes! Tsunade would definitely go that far to get some booze and hazardous games. Then the note changed.

_Shizune, you cannot disobey an order from the Hokage!  
And this is an order from the Hokage!  
You have to take my place until I come back!_

Shizune seemed to think for a while before she suddenly jumped forward and started to bang on the door.

"Help, somebody help me" she started to scream through it "I'm locked in, help" she stood like that for a few minutes when she was suddenly pushed back, in to the desk. As she looked up there was no sign of anything that could have pushed her.

_Shizune, you should learn to listen to me!  
I hate having to push people like that, you should just be glad that the desk didn't brake when you slammed in to it like that!  
__Besides, it doesn't matter how much you scream, the door is sound-proof, has been ever since Sarutobi-sensei installed them during his younger days.  
Don't really know if I want to know why he did that though._

Apparently it had been Tsunade who had pushed her through her jutsu.

Shizune got up from the floor as she did everything in her control to forever suppress the fact that the doors where sound proof because of the Sandaime, who had made sure that they were when he was young.

That might not have been too disturbing really, but since everybody who had met the man while he was still young – or knew somebody who had – knew what a flirt he had been back then.

After a while Shizune just sighed and gave up. She quickly formed the handsigns to do a henge and as the smoke dissppeared Tsunade stood in her place.

"Let's get this over with" Shizune/Tsunade said as she walked up to the door. Just before she put her hand on the doorknob however the note changed once more.

_Come on Shizune! You have to do this for me!  
I swear that I will owe you big time for this.  
Even though it might be an order you can see this more as a personal favor to me._

Shizune/Tsunade read it with disbelief. Didn't Tsunade control what was written on the note?

Had she pre-planed every word on that note before she had left?

If she had, that meant she had been able to guess Shizune's exact acting once seeing the first note on the desk.

Then, how come this last note was still begging her to use a henge when she already had?

Did that mean that Tsunade had thought that Shizune would hang in there longer than she actually had?

"I'm growing soft" Shizune/Tsunade screamed out in agony at the realization.

* * *

Sakura was standing outside of Kiba's house, within the Inuzuka compound. She came directly from the hospital and was not happy at all. There was something going on with team eigth and for some reason Kiba refused to tell her, despite the fact that he knew how much she hated being left out of something.

A while after knocking on the door she could hear footsteps on the other side of it and soon Hana opened the door.

"Hi there Sakura" she said, almost before the door was open it seemed.

"Hi Hana-san" Sakura said with a smile. Knowing Hana she had most assuredly greeted her before the door was open, since she was an Inuzuka she had known that it was Sakura probably even before she had knocked on the door. That also meant that Kiba knew that she was there and probably also the fact that she was angry.

"Kiba's upstairs in his room" Hana said with a smile, ignoring Sakura's bad mood.

"Is Shino with him?" Sakura asked her.

"Yepp he is" Hana answered after taking a sniff of the air, checking that Shino was still there.

"Okay, thanks" Sakura said before she walked up the stairs. Once she had walked up all of them she met Shino.

"Hi there Sakura-san" he said as he made an attempt to walk past her. Just as he had however Sakura grabbed a hold of his hood, efficiently stopping him from going any further.

"Not so fast Shino. I've got things to talk about with you and Kiba" she told him as she started to drag him with her. As she entered Kiba's room she threw Shino across it so that he slammed in to the side of the bed in which Kiba was sitting.

"Sa-sakura-chan" Kiba said with a sheepish smile.

"Spill it" she told him, the air was practically vibrating from her anger.

"W-what?" he asked her.

"What is going on with your team?" Sakura asked him. Suddenly Kiba's appearance turned grim as he stod up.

"Yes, there's something going on with my team. But it is _my _team that it's something going on with. That means that it's none of your business and I don't have to tell you" he said to her.

"None of my business?" she asked him outraged "Of course it's my business if there's something that's bothering my boyfriend" she told him, an almost desperate tone to her voice.

"Don't play that card" Kiba told her, clearly angry at her now.

"What card?" she asked him, her eyes turning in to slits for a moment.

"The boyfriend card"

"I didn't even know that was a card" she said in a hurtful voice, now almost on the brink of tears.

"What?" Kiba asked her, managing to sound both angry and confused.

"I didn't know that 'boyfriend' was a card. I thought that was just a fact that should mean that you should be able to tell me anything" she told him as the tears broke through. At the sight of her tears Kiba's anger flew out the door and he walked up to her and embraced.

"I'm sorry princess. I just didn't want to bother you" he told her.

"If you should bother somebody with your problems it should be me you know" she told him.

"Why should I want to bother the one I love?" he asked her.

"To show that you love me by confiding in me" she answered. After that they just stood there quiet for a while, enjoying each others' embrace, when Shino started to move again.

"Well, since that's fine now I will take my leave" he said as he walked past them and up to the door. Just as he was about to grab the doorknob however Sakura once again took a hold of his hood.

"You're not going anywhere. This is about your team as well so you should also be here now" Sakura said.

"Come on Sakura, he was just on his way to meat Rin" Kiba told her. Sakura looked at Kiba with a curious look.

"Really?" she said before she snapped back her hand, placing Shino next to Kiba, facing 

her.

"That was why you were on your way out?" she asked him. He merely nodded in his usual way, not speaking more than necessary.

"And here I thought that it might have been because you were afraid of little me" she said with something similar to a pout. Kiba raised his eyebrows at her in a surprised look.

"You wanted him to be afraid of you?" he asked her.

"No, of course not!" she exclaimed, denying it too much.

"But it's good if you were going to meat Rin. In that case you can tell her too now" Sakura then said, wanting to change the subject as soon as possible.

"She already knows" Shino informed her.

"She does?" Sakura asked him surprised.

"Yeah, as soon as you guys came home he ran away to her and told" Kiba said in a slightly irritated tone.

"You knew?" Sakura screamed at him. Kiba gulped and laughed sheepishly as he realized just what he had said.

In her anger she released Shino without noticing and he quickly fled the soon to be murder-attempt-scene.

* * *

About an hour after managing to escape Sakura's wrage Shino walked through the forest in silence with Rin by his side as usual.

They had taken up their little habit to walk together in the forest after Rin had gotten home again from her latest mission - getting Tori.

Usually she just walked their in silence next to Shino as he looked for new types of insects with various succes. Sometimes - as this one - she borrowed a few of his kikaichus to train her kekkei-genkai which was getting far better at evading he bugs.

She was at the moment consentrating real hard as she managed to evade them completely for just a few second.

Then her consentration was completely destroyed as she felt Shino's hand on her cheek. As she turned towards him he took a better hold on her face and leaned down to kiss her.

She kissed him back as the bugs ate the remaining chakra that she had used for her training in a flash.

It started out as a sweet kiss - as all their other kisses since Shino found out she was a Jinchuuriki - but soon turned in to a more passionate one. Her lips moved against his both soft and firm lips. After a while they broke apart for air.

"What was that for?" she asked him with a smile.

"Just felt like it" he asnwered "Guess I'm happy you're the way you are" he added as more explanation.

"Okay, you think you could feel like it more?" she then asked him. As an answer to her question he bent down and kissed her a second time.

This one, if possible, even more passionate as her embraced her and brougth her entire body as close as he could to his own.

"So this is where you two go all the time" somebody suddenly said, interrupting them in the middle of their kiss. Shino and Rin quickly jumped apart and turned towards the voice to see Sakura, Kiba and Tori entering the little clearing.

"Shino man, you really need to learn the consept of romance" Kiba said with a sigh as he walked up to his team mate.

"What do you want?" Rin asked them in an angry tone, she wasn't entirely sure why but she was feeling really angry right now.

"A little irritated are we. Wasn't the kiss any good?" Kiba asked her in a teasing tone as he practially danced from Shino to her. She gritted her teeth, doing everything within her 

power not to punch him in the face.

"Why the Hell are you here?" she asked him instead through her teeth.

"A little thouchy?" he asked her instead of answering the question. As he did Rin snapped and wasn't able to hold on anymore. Instead she brought back her balled up hand to punch him. Before she could bring it down on his face however Sakura was at her side and had grabbed her hand.

"What are you trying to do to my boyfriend?" she asked Rin in an angry tone.

"He must be one Hell of a boyfriend, needing his girlfriend to protect him" Rin mocked both Sakura and Kiba. Rin didn't know about Kiba since she wasn't watching him but Sakura clearly took the blow quite hard since she flinched.

"Kizume" Sakura then said the next second in a warning tone. Just from that word Rin felt how she shrank away as she realized how disrespectful she had acted towards a Haruno.

"Gomenasai Haruno-" she started when Shino suddenly put his hand on top of Sakura's.

"You better stop doing that Haruno, or else" he said to Sakura, clearly past just annoyed.

"Hey Shino, don't you dare threaten my girlfriend" Kiba interjected in an angry tone as he glared at his friend.

"She better stop treating mine like a personal slave as soon as it's conventient" Shino replied to it as his bugs started to hiss, showing their anger as well.

"Please, don't fight" Tori suddenly screamed out as her chakra suddenly peaked for a second. The sound and the sudden preassure for a second made all of hem stop their fighting and just stand there dumbfounded for a second before Sakura realized what had just happened.

"Shit" she said as she took her hand back and walked over to Tori, asking the blond how she was feeling.

"Damn, I didn't even think about that" Rin said as she also realized what had happened.

"What?" Kiba asked her confused.

"We figured out that everybody will be a little crankier than usual around Tori because of the Gobi" Rin answered as she looked from Tori and Sakura to him. In some way he managed to crease his eyebrows even more as her explanation only opened up for more questions. He didn't get the time to ask them however as she explained further first.

"The Gobi hates being captive so much that it wishes to do all it can to make the Jinchuuriki's life as miserable as possible. Tori here hate it when people fight, that's something easy to accomplish for the Gobi. All it has to do is to release a little bit of its ancient and evil chakra at all times for us to get easily irritated" Rin explained to them.

"So you mean that just being around Tori makes you angry because of the Gobi?" Kiba asked her.

"Yeah, pretty much" Rin answered with a shrug.

"How come that doesn't happen around you or Naruto?" Shino asked her.

"Because even though the Hachibi and Kyuubi absolutely loath being inprisonated they don't hate it nearly as much as the Gobi does" she answered.

"By the way, why did you guys come here?" Rin suddenly asked them.

"Kiba told me and Tori about their team and Hinata" Sakura answered her.

* * *

Hinata was sitting under one of the trees in Konoha Park, Naruto's head resting in her lap. After he had abducted her they had eaten lunch and then gone to Konoha Park just to walk around and talk.

After maybe an hour or so they had ended up in the shadow of one of the big trees there. As Naruto laid there with his head in her lap he looked up at her as she looked down at him.

Her long hair acted as a veil around his face and all he could see was her face, slightly lighted by the sun shining through. And Naruto couldn't help but marvel at how beautiful Hinata was.

He could hear people calling something in the background but just ignored it and continued to watch Hinata and play with one of her strands of hair that fell down to the side of his face. Hinata however chose to look up, as if somebody had been calling out to them.

Despite not seeing her face from the front Naruto could easily see how Hinata's expression turned from a smile to a grim one. He didn't like that, because with that expression he couldn't imagine her violet eyes, but those white eyes she had look at him with when he had returned home just two days ago.

"What is it?" he asked her as he sat up besides her, looking in the same direction as she did. There he saw how Sakura, Kiba, Shino, Rin and Tori were walking towards them.

Why did Hinata's expression turn grim because she saw them?

"Hi guys" Naruto called out to them with a big grin as he waved. To his surprise none of them greeted him except Tori, and even she sounded unsure if she should greet him or not. Kiba and Shino walked up and stood right in front of Hinata and looked down on her. She looked up and met their gaze head-on in a non Hinata like fashion.

The tension was cut-able and Naruto easily noted that all of them except Tori was radiating some kind of hostility towards Hinata. And he didn't like it at all.

"Hi Hinata" Kiba said to her, his voice to tense and almost angry that Naruto noticed how he himself absentmindedly tensed and made himself ready to fight.

"Hi Kiba-kun" she replied back, both of them had hard expressions as they looked at each other.

"Kurenai-sensei told us about your decision" Kiba said after a while.

"Okay" Hinata started "And why do you feel the need to tell me that? Especially now after a week" she asked him.

"It didn't seem as if you would listen and actually talk with us until now" Kiba answered her.

"Okay, and what is there to talk about?" she asked him.

"What about why?" he asked her. Hinata took a deep breath as she stood up.

"Because of my duty to my clan" She answered him bluntly.

"Oh please" Sakura suddenly interjected in an angry tone "Cut that bullshit out Hinata" Sakura told her. Suddenly Naruto was standing in front of Hinata in a flash.

"I don't know what's going on. But whatever it is I won't let you treat Hinata like that" he almost growled at them before turning around towards Hinata.

"Come on Hinata, let's go" he said as he took a hold of her elbow and started to walk away from there in a rapid pace.

"Hey, Naruto" Sakura called out as she started to walk after them. Before she could however Shino blocked her way with his arm.

"Let them go" he told her.

"Bu-" she started to protest only to get interrupted by him.

"I don't think she will listen to any of us right now. Especially not with Naruto here to interrupt us as soon as he thinks we are treating Hinata badly. She will however probably listen to him. All we have to do is hope for him to convince her in our direction" he told her.

* * *

"Tsunade-sama, where should I put these?" Shizune looked up from Tsunades desk to see a walking stash of pappers.

No, that wasn't right. If she looked further down she could actually see a pair of leg start where the pappers ended.

That meant that either this person was extremely deformed and looked like a stash of pappers above their legs, or there was a person who managed to carry the humoungus stash of papers. Shizune wasn't really sure which one of the alternatives she preferred.

"Err... just put it here on the desk for the moment" she said, clearing away a space on the desk in case it was actually a human behind those papers and in case that human refered to the papers when he asked where to put 'these'. Just as so many times earlier that day she got surprised as soon as she spoke, she was fully aware that she had used a henge to look like Tsunade, still yet she was so surprised when the Hokage's dark but still yet feminine voice came out of her mouth instead of Shizune's own voice.

"Er… where?" the voice behind the papers asked and Shizune suddenly realized that whoever it was probably couldn't see a thing because of the papers. She hurried around the desk and up to the person. Rounding the papers she could see Izumo stand behind the pile, carrying it as well.

Inwardly she sighed in disappointment; apparently she had really hoped that it was just a defect person and not more work for her. On the outside however she took a hold on Izumo's elbow, telling him to follow her, and led him up to the desk.

"There you go" she told him with a small smile as he managed to dump the papers on the desk thanks to her help.

Instead of thanking her, as she had expected him to, he stood there staring at her with large eyes. She looked back at him confused and suddenly very self-awere.

"Err… Tsunade-sama, is… is there something wrong?" Izumo asked her after a while in a tentative way. Suddenly it hit her, she had been acting like herself. Tsunade would never have helped him up to the desk. She would be too busy sleeping with her head on it to even answer him.

"Of course there isn't, don't be silly" she told him in a stern voice as she walked to sit down in her chair.

"Okay" he said unsure before turning around to walk out again.

"On second thought" she stopped him "Put them beside the desk. I can't see anything as it is" she told him in that same stern voice as she took out a glas and filled it with sake, hoping that she wouldn't have to drink any of it – it was after all only to play the part.

To her luck it didn't take long for him to put down the papers and walk out, which meant that she only had to take one sip of the sake before he was out.

As soon as the door closed behind him she started to shudder from the horrible taste of the sake. When she had finished coughing and shuddering she looked over at the new huge stash of work and sighed.

How did the lazy Tsunade manage this?

Deciding that she better get started – so she could call it a day sometime – she reached out and took the top document. It was a application for vacation by … Hatake Kakashi.

"As if he would get a vacantion" she said with a snort.

As usual Konoha needed every available shinobi, and if it was somebody who relaxed even though at work it was Kakashi. Therefore he wasn't going to be top priority when handing out vacations.

Shaking her head she put it in the pile of non-acceptances without another look. If she had taken another look however she might've noticed the fact that another document had slipped with Kakashi's application accidently. It was another application. Not for vacation though, but Hyuuga Hinata's application to resign from team eight.

* * *

**A/N: I really like to put an gasp-effect to the last sentence xD **

**Another chapter to an end. I hope you liked this chapter as well. I had a little ****trouble naming it since – as you could see – jumps very much from place to place. **

**Personally I'm really pleased with the Shizune parts **

**Now, the usual thank you to my lovely reviewers **

**GraityTheWizard, Pyx, Darth-Taisha, .xXx.hikari.midnight.xXx., bobbetter, Ancient Kyubi and Rena the pirate jedi wizard. Thank you so much for your lovely reviews.**


	35. The Sounding Alarm

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto**

**A/N: Finally! I have actually managed to write another chapter :O ………….. ehm ….. I am **_**so**_ **sorry for the delay! I just never managed to write anything on this, then a week a go or so I actually managed to go from less than half a page to two pages :O**

**Then just yesterday everything came to me as I wrote, I nearly didn't manage to concentrate on my lessons since I wanted to write instead **

**As you have probably figured out a long line means a time-skip. In this chapter all time-skips is actually a small jump back in time **

* * *

**Chapter 35: The sounding alarm**

It was two days since Hinata had told Naruto that she wanted to resign from team eight.

It was two days ago that he started to wonder what to do.

He could understand why she would want to resign, still yet he just couldn't agree with her. She shouldn't cut herself off from all her friends because of duty to her clan, she wouldn't be happy that way.

If he said so however he would feel as if he treated her the same way as Kiba and Shino did, just trying to control her.

He was truly at loss for what to do.

Therefore he didn't notice Iruka at first as he walked down the main street of Konoha.

"Oi, Naruto" Iruka said as he tried to get the boy's attention a third time.

The blond demon vessel finally heard the man and looked up.

At the sight of his ex-teacher his expression turned happy as he beamed towards Iruka.

"Iruka-sensei" he greeted with a big wave as Iruka tried to make his way towards Naruto.

"Naruto, how come you haven't come seen me since you came home?" Iruka asked the boy in an angry tone as he reached Naruto.

The Jinchuuriki's expression smile turned sheepish as he scratched the backside of his neck and tried to think of an excuse. Seeing Naruto's expression Iruka started to laugh at him.

"I was just kidding" he said as he patted Naruto on the back, happy to meet his ex-student after three long years. Naruto laughed with him.

"Let's go get some Ramen" Iruka then said "It's my treat" he added after a while. Naruto happily accepted the offer and they walked towards Ichiraku's Ramen. Once there they ordered their ramen and started to eat.

"So, Naruto. I heard rumors about you and Hinata-san" Iruka said after a while in a meaningful tone.

"Huh?" Naruto looked up from his second bowl, still in the motion of eating all the noodles in one large chew. At the sight of him Iruka started laughing.

"What's so funny?" Naruto asked him.

"Your. Expression" Iruka managed to press out as an answer in between the laughs.

"What's with my expression?" the blond boy asked, looking confused.

"You looked so confused, and then with the noodles like that" Iruka said as he managed to press back the laughter.

"Oh" Naruto said as he turned back to his food. Iruka looked at him puzzled, it wasn't like Naruto to react like that.

"Is there something wrong?" he asked him. Naruto looked up at him.

"Why do you think there's something wrong?"

"You wouldn't react like that usually" Iruka said in a concerned tone. Naruto just looked at him quietly for a while before turning back to his ramen.

"What rumors are there about me and Hinata?" Naruto asked as he solemnly stirred his ramen.

"That you're going out" Iruka said. Naruto smiled genuinely down towards his food.

"Are you?" Iruka asked him.

"Yeah" Naruto got a dreamy look on his face as if he was remembering something pleasant.

"So, what's wrong?" Iruka asked him. Naruto sighed before he started to explain the whole situation with Hinata.

"So I don't really know what to do. Should I try to convince her to stay in the team and ask just like them or should I let her make the choice and just watch as she does something I think is wrong?" he ended the explanation.

Iruka sat there quietly for a while, thinking over what he should say.

When he opened his mouth he was however interrupted by a loud voice echoing through the village.

It was the Hokage's voice that sounded through the speakers all around the large mountain that surrounded half of the village.

* * *

Sakura concentrated chakra as she took aim on Rin with her punch.

She was however not quick enough as Rin sidestepped her and instead her chakra infused fist went past Rin's head and connected with a large tree that broke in to splinters from the impact of Sakura's punch.

The next second she herself could feel the impact of Rin's chakra whip over her back.

Making a small yelp of agony she fell down on her knees, breathing heavily.

When she sensed the whip coming towards her a second time she quickly fell down form her position on all four and rolled away so that the whip hit the ground next to her instead of her back.

Instead of stopping she kept rolling, after a short while she put up her legs in a way that made her able to stand up without stopping the rolling motion.

Now she stood up, facing Rin with so much space between the two of them that Rin couldn't reach her.

The whips however were extendable and very much controllable thanks to Rin's chakra control - especially since her private training with Shino.

Just as she had stood up Rin came charging towards her, whip in the air on its way towards Sakura. The pink haired medic quickly brought up a kunai and blocked the whip on pure instinct.

Unfortunately for her a mere kunai can't block a whip in the way she had imagined, especially not an entirely controllable chakra whip.

Instead the whip spun once around the kunai before changing its course, now spinning around her arm all the way up to her shoulder.

Before she could react another whip was looping around her entire upper-body. That way Rin had stopped her from moving almost entirely. And the next moment her left arm was also unusable after Rin had twined a third whip around that arm when she had noticed Sakura's try to reach a shuriken.

They stood quietly like that and regarded each other, Sakura with a glare and Rin with a smirk.

"I guess I wi-" the red head started to say before getting interrupted by Sakura stomping her chakra infused foot.

Immediately everything started to shake and the ground started to crack from the impact of Sakura's foot.

Rin quickly let go of Sakura so she could get away in time.

Soon after Sakura also jumped back, away from Rin, it was however easy to see that she was far more exhausted than Rin was.

Instead of rushing in again both of them just stood there, regarding each other with distance in between.

Rin noticed the fact that Sakura was even resting a hand on a tree in an effort to ease some strain on her body.

"Just give up" she told the other girl "I can see how exhausted you are"

Sakura breathed heavily for a while before she retorted with a "Shut up" and the next second she was gone.

She hadn't charged Rin but had jumped up in to one of the trees, trying to hide from Rin.

The Jinchuuriki smirked, knowing that Sakura had forgotten the fact about one of the abilities that followed with Rin's kekkei-genkai.

Once she had in some way fused her chakra with another person's chakra she could without any effort sense that person's chakra, and with a whole lot more effort also transport that person.

Unfortunately for her she didn't have enough chakra to do the second one at the moment, sensing Sakura however was quickly done.

So she quickly jumped up towards the branch where she knew that Sakura was hiding and threw kunais at her, meting her gaze was a crouching Sakura with large shocked eyes before she poofed into a large wooden log.

Damn, a kawarimi.

Rin suddenly sensed how Sakura was charging her from behind and turned around to see Sakura coming with her fist high in the air, because of Sakura's fatigue however Rin easily side-stepped the punch and whipped Sakura with a chakra whip over her back.

At the impact the pink-haired girl just collapsed, she didn't make any effort trying to get up. She just lied there and signaled her defeat with a hand wave.

"HA! I knew I would win" Rin said as she plopped down next to Sakura on the large branch. Even though she sounded so confident she didn't seem that much more energetic than Sakura with her labored breathing.

"Yeah, yeah" was all Sakura replied before she rolled around so she was lying on her back, facing up towards the sky.

"I've been wondering something" she said after a while of silence.

"Okay, what?" Rin asked her.

"About the whole Haruno and Kizume relationship" Sakura started.

"How come the Kizumes' were the Harunos' servants when your kekkei-genkai seems far superior to ours?" she asked as she lifted her head to regard Rin. The Kizume looked thoughtful for a while.

"I don't know really. As I've said, I've never even meet a Haruno before you" Rin answered.

"So maybe we don't even-" she started to add before she was interrupted by a voice coming from the village.

It was the Hokage's voice that seemed to come from the speakers placed around the village and up on the mountain.

* * *

The new Hyuuga council was having one of its daily meetings.

The floor in half of the room was a little higher than the rest, in the middle of this Hinata was sitting.

Slightly behind her was Yumi. At the door stood Name and outside of them stood Mikeo.

All so that she would be safe.

It wasn't all that necessary really, she was surrounded with the entire Hyuuga council, and if it came to it she would be one of those best off if it came to fighting.

She had after all single-handed taken out Hayami in one punch and no one had dared to ay anything after that.

Still yet she knew that she wouldn't be able to win over some people, like Neji.

At the moment they were discussing which children they should sent to the academy at the beginning of the next term.

"There's no question that we have to send Takaki-kun, just look at his father, Ichimaru-san, he is one of the strongest within the clan" somebody said.

Hinata didn't really pay any attention anymore.

She didn't feel like being in that room anymore. It felt like she was under surveillance in that small room with her bodyguards and all the council members looking at her soon as she made the slightest movement.

Therefore she often stayed quiet and still when she didn't feel that she had anything to say.

Even then she knew that Yumi was watching her, something to be expected since she was after all the leader's bodyguard.

The irritating part however was the fact that Neji was as well watching her like a hawk even though he didn't really have to, or even should.

Hinata kept on ignoring her as she let her thoughts wander aimlessly, she was bored.

Feeling the sun shine down through the window and warm her back she wished she could be out there instead. As she thought about that a certain blond loud-mouth came to her mind and a small smile grazed her lips.

"Hinata-sama" her face perked up at the sound of her name to meet the eyes of Neji. Apparently her cousin had been watching her all the time and noticed her little slip-up.

"Yes Neji-niisan?" she asked in a courteous tone.

"You haven't said anything regarding Takaki-kun. Don't you agree that he should be sent to the academy?" he asked her.

"Oh, yes I do agree about him. I was however wondering a little bit about Ominu-kun" she answered him.

Her statement was met with silence, she had known it would be. Ominu's parents were some of the civilians in the clan who had not attended the academy, and therefore Omuni hadn't even been brought up as a serious suggestion.

"You can't really be serious Hinata-sama" somebody broke the silence with and soon all joined in.

It was impossible to know who said what or even hear full sentences, for all the noise drowned out the actual words.

There were actually only fiva people who stayed silent. Firstly there was Hinata herself, and then there were Yumi, Name andvNeji. Yumi and Name were tense, ready to defense Hinata if somebody showed any signs of violence.

Neji wasn't tense, he was merely regarding Hinata, still yet she knew that if anybody became violent he would probably be there to stop them from harming Hinata even before Yumi who was sitting next to her could.

The fourth one who also stayed silent was Homame, the only one who had been a member of the old council.

Just as Neji he was solely regarding Hinata, and she met his gaze head on, knowing that it would probably irritate him.

Even though he was a member of the new council they didn't trust each other.

Just as the other members of the old council he hadn't liked the fact that Hinata was to take over the clan.

There was however a difference between him and the others, they had just wanted to take over the clan themselves, Homame on the other hand had actually thought that Hinata wasn't fit to be head of the clan and had therefore gone against Hiashi.

So when the new council thought that it would be good to have a member from the old council on the new one Hinata decided that he was the best option.

Suddenly another noise sounded in the room, this one sounded above all the voices of the council members.

It was another voice, a voice that didn't come from the room but from speakers.

Above the council members' voices sounded Tsunade's voice and Hinata listened to that one instead of the council, at first thankful for something else to listen to than their rambling.

Until she heard the content of Tsunade's message.

* * *

**Earlier that day**

Shizune was walking down the corridor with a Kotetsu overloaded with papers as her tail.

She had been in her henge as Tsunade for two days and she was finally getting used to the oversized bosom she now had to carry around. It was far more uncomfortable than she had earlier thought.

The workload however, it wasn't even anything to get used to.

During these two days she had discovered that Tsunade pushed over far more work on Shizune than she had earlier thought. And it wasn't something that Shizune was particularly happy over. Therefore she had been able to be an even more convincing Tsunade these last few days since her temper had been just as bad as Tsunade's.

When they reached the Hokage's office she opened the door and stepped in, trusting Kotetsu to make it through the door as well despite his immense amount of papers.

As soon as she stepped in though the door however a cloud of smoke engulfed her and she felt how she changed.

When the smoke disappeared she was suddenly taller, thinner and her hair had shortened.

And she was met with the sight of Tsunade sitting behind her desk.

After a short silence Kotetsu suddenly stepped past her and walked up to the desk.

"Welcome home again Tsunade-sama" he said as he put down the papers on the desk before bowing down in front of the Hokage.

"Thank you" Tsunade said.

"I have wondered where you were" Kotetsu said as he stood up again. Tsunade opened her mouth to answer but was however interrupted by Shizune before she could.

"Hey, you knew that it was me?" she asked him. He turned his head towards her.

"Yes, I and Izumo figured it two days ago" he answered.

"What? You knew all along?" Shizune almost screamed. He looked at her shocked.

"You mean Tsunade went away only two days ago? I thought that she had been away for a while and we only noticed then" he said. Shizune stood there, looking at Kotetsu with a shocked expression.

"Shizune" Tsunade suddenly said in an irritated tone. Shizune looked up at her to see the blond woman's eyebrow twitch in an alarming way.

"Yes Tsunade-sama" she said in a voice that was slightly high-pitched out of fear.

"Who else have figured it out?" she asked in a voice that told them just how close she was at losing the control she held over her anger.

"Eh.. ehm" Shizune started nervously, unsure of what to say.

"Don't worry Tsunade-sama, it's just me and Izumo who knew" Kotetsu said in a reassuring voice.

"And how come?" Tsunade asked him.

"We made sure that it was just us two that made any contact with her" he answered her. Tsunade sighed heavily as she massaged her temples.

"That's good, thank you Kotetsu" she said after a while.

"By the way, did you give anybody any explanation for Shizune's absence?" he asked them and both of them froze as they realized their mistake.

**At the same time,**

Kakashi was on his way towards the Hokage building.

He had been woken by an ANBU who had told him that the Hokage wanted all the jounins assembled on the roof of the Hokage building.

After a while he had reluctantly gotten out of bed, in reality he had wanted to stay there but since Iruka wasn't even there he really didn't have a particularly good reason to stay in bed.

On his way there some other jounins joined up with him, first was Asuma.

"Oi, Kakashi" he greeted him with in his usual relaxed way.

"Yo" Kakashi said with a smile before they continued on in silence.

Just seconds later came Kurenai who joined them in silence.

As they were jumping from one roof-top to another they were suddenly stopped by Anko who was standing in the middle of the roof with the usual mischievous smile playing on her lips.

"On your way to see me?" she asked them in a playful tone.

"Who would want to see you?" Genma said, jumping down next to her as he as well joined the group.

"Hey, show some respect to the ladies" she said as she aimed a hit towards his head.

"Are you supposed to represent a lady?" he said in a mocking tone as he easily side-stepped her.

"Let's just get going" Kurenai interrupted them.

"Sheez, won't you just relax sometime" Anko said with an exaggerated sigh.

Kurenai opened her mouth to say something when Asuma suddenly took a hold of her arm and dragged her with him as he, Kakashi and Genma continued on towards the Hokage building.

Just two roof-tops away however something green came hurling and knocked Kakashi away. Were Kakashi had just been now stood Gai with the hands on his hips and a large blinding smile.

"You need to be more youthful than that Kakashi my rival or you will never stand a chance against me" he said with a laugh.

Kakashi grumbled as he got up.

Could this get any worse? First Anko and then Gai as well!

Behind the self-proclaimed Green Beauty of Konoha stood Genma and Asuma and snickering.

He looked over at Kurenai and saw how the corners of her mouth were slightly upturned as she tried not to laugh. When he noticed how Anko was nearing them he jumped up.

"Let's just continue" he said before continuing without waiting to see if they followed him.

Later on as they had caught up with him and reached the Hokage building - there all of the jounins of the entire village were standing in lines as they waited for the Hokage.

At the side of the large rectangle that was the jounins stood another large rectangle, in this one all were dressed entirely in black and wore silver plates around their torso. Hiding their faces were various animal-masks and on their right arms were the ANBU-tattoo.

A low buzz could be heard in the jounin-rectangle as they talked with each other, the black rectangle however was completely silent. Instead of speaking with his fellow jounin Kakashi was regarding the ANBUs.

"Hey, Kakashi" Genma said as he put an elbow in Kakashi's rib.

Just as the former ANBU was about to retort Tsunade stepped out on the roof. Behind her walked the two clan-elders, all three of them wore grim faces.

As they stepped out all noise disappeared and all gazes turned towards them as all jounins and ANBU waited to hear what they wanted.

They did however not open their mouths, instead the speakers came to life and a voice started to speak through them. It was Tsunade's voice.

_"Alert! The Village is to be evacuated! All civilians and children will move towards the mountain towards together with the village's chuunins! This is not a drill! I repeat. This is not a drill!"_

All shinobi who was up on the roof right then tensed up as they listened to the content of the message and waited for further instructions. After the message had been repeated a third time Tsunade spoke up.

"The village will soon be under attack by a group named Akatsuki. Secure the walls and give instructions to all chuunin to guard the civilians within the mountain" she said in a loud voice.

"Go!" she said as she quickly threw out her arm towards the left. On her command all jounin and ANBU shattered.

**A/N: So, that's that ****… '**

**First, thank you to GraityTheWizard, bobbetter, Pyx, Ancient Kyubi, Rena the pirate jedi wizard, rallybabe89 and Rohan Tahquil for your lovely reviews **

**I hope all of you (and all others) still have the energy to wait for the chapters and follow this story**

**Unfortunately it will probably take a little while until chapter 36 as well, I will still yet try to finish it earlier than this chapter!!**


	36. Away from the mountain

**A/N: I'm so****ooo sorry for the wait (I do however believe that you didn't have to wait as long as for chapter 35 ^^') and for the fact that after all this wait you still don't get a particularly long chapter -.-'**

**Well, don't really have anything more to say so I won't keep you up anymore but let you actually read the chapter ^^**

* * *

** Chapter 36: Away from the mountain**

Naruto was with Rin and Tori in a small cave, secluded from the rest of the caves in the Konoha Mountain.

He had immediately gone to the mountain as Tsunade's voice had reverberated throughout the village since he was a chuunin.

At first he had only found Kiba and Shino to his dismay. Even though it was really Hinata they were fighting with he was still yet not on the best of terms with them himself because of his acting two days ago.

Fortunately he had soon been released from them as an ANBU came up to him, telling Naruto to come with him.

It turned out it was because Tsunade wanted to speak with him, Rin and Tori about the situation.

Akatsuki was attacking the village and they were the reason.

She told them they were not allowed to go out of the mountain, because if they were caught Akatsuki would be one step closer to world domination. Of course they had fought back, should they sit there like cowards as the village fought because of their mere existence?

Their attempts were however futile as six ANBU held them back and took them in to a small cave, where they now were sitting. The six ANBU had positioned themselves outside of the cave to guard them and had been sitting there the last four hours as the war had been raging outside of the mountain, they felt the explosions as they shook the ground. For now they had given up their tries to escape.

One of the ANBU came in from the small corridor outside the cave to watch over them and make sure that they weren't doing something that wasn't allowed just to walk out soon again.

The change came as they were sitting there in silence when they suddenly heard thumps outside the cave. They looked up in shock as somebody came walking around the corner, to their surprise it was not an ANBU but Neji, the veins around his eyes visible to all as his Byakugan was activated. He smirked at them in that calm Hyuuga demeanor.

"Konichiwa" he said to them. They just stared at him, unable to say anything.

"Weren't you planning to even try to escape?" Tenten said as she walked in after him, confidently spinning a needle in her hand.

"Of course we were" Naruto said as he got up, finally regaining his ability to speak and move.

"That's the spirit of youth" Lee said as he bounced around the corner, colliding with Naruto as the blond was walking towards the opening of the cave.

"Naruto-kun, were you so eager to see me?" Lee exclaimed in joy as he started to hug the poor blond. The other four just stood there and watched as Naruto fought to get up. Neji watched in his silent indifference, Tenten without stop to spin her needle, Rin with something similar to a smirk of amusement at Naruto and Tori in a frazzle, unknowing if she should help Naruto or not.

Just a few minutes later Naruto and Lee had gotten off of the floor and they were out of the mountain entirely, now as well with Sakura, Kiba, Shino, Chouji and Ino.

It had been easier to escape for the others since they hadn't been under surveillance in the same way as Naruto, Tori and Rin.

They stood at the top of the mountain and looked out over the cliff edge. Over at the river it looked as if there had been a flood, the water level was far higher than usual and it looked as if the surrounding ground were under water as well. Several buildings had been demolished, and at one place it looked as if the building had been leveled with the ground.

"How should we get down there?" Sakura asked as they stood there.

"We Jump!" Lee exclaimed as he made himself ready to jump. As he leaped in to the air however Tenten quickly conjured a rope with which she caught him in the middle of the air.

"We are not going to jump and tire ourselves so much that we can't fight" she said as she had dragged him up the wall of the mountain.

"I guess we have to run around then" Sakura said as they had untied Lee.

"Yosh, let's make it a race" the green clad enthusiast said before setting off. Tenten, Neji, Ino, Chouji, Kiba, Shino and Sakura followed him soon behind, just less enthusiastic.

Just as Naruto, Rin and Tori were to follow however a large explosion could be heard in the distance. At the sound Tori immediately stopped and looked back over at the village. In her run Rin looked back and saw how the other girl had stopped, so she took a hold of Naruto's sleeve to stop him.

"Tori, come on we have to hurry" she called after the blond girl, sounding slightly desperate – the sight of the village really had made her understand how grave the situation was.

Tori was however not listening, she was busy watching the unnaturally large, white bird with somebody standing on it circle around in the distance.

She could see how several small objects dropped from it, and just instances later every single one of them exploded as they neared the ground.

She stood there in shock and watched the bird, despite her being unable to really comprehend what she was seeing her hand slipped open her left hip-pouch and her hand slipped in to it.

Faster than ever before she chewed and worked on the clay, so just seconds later as she spit out the clay from the mouths of her hand it had taken on the form of a small, small bird almost identical to the one that was circling in the air. Throwing it out in to the air it grew until it was big enough to carry several people, it flew in a small circle before it stopped in front of the mountain. As it stopped she hoped on to it and took off.

Rin and Naruto watched as she stood there and started to chew the clay, as soon as she had thrown out the little bird and it had started to grow they took off towards her. They kept running as she hoped on to the now large bird, and as it had flown away they reached the edge of the cliff.

Naruto stopped, thinking that it was too far away, Rin however loaded chakra in to her feet and jumped.

The Kyuubi vessel looked on as he saw Rin fly through the air towards the bird, feeling the fear as it looked as if she was going to miss it and fall down towards the ground a few hundred meters down, he also felt the relief as she just barely managed to grab a hold of the bird's feathers and hang on.

He breathed out, noticing that he had been holding his breath, as he suddenly realized that she was on her way with Tori towards the fight that he was still up there on the mountain, now alone. Throwing all caution to the wind he jumped.

* * *

Gai looked at the strange, blue man that he was fighting.

He had been positioned at the river that went through Konoha as the fight started. It didn't take long until that large with his huge sword had come and started to fight with him.

Almost immediately the man had done some weird water technique that had flooded the entire place, so that it was inevitable for them to fight on top of the water.

The man had continued on by asking Gai if he didn't recognize the man, this truly perplexed Konoha's green beauty since he couldn't remember ever meeting a blue man. And he would probably have remembered somebody who was colored entirely in such a horrible color as blue, it should be green. Ah, how beautiful it would be to be entirely covered in green.

* * *

Kakashi looked at his opponent's feet, knowing what would happen if he looked up in to Itachi's sharingan.

As soon as he had felt the Uchiha's chakra he had gone to it as fast as he could, knowing that no one really stood a chance against him as it was.

To be able to stand up against him you needed a Sharingan by birth, and even though Kakashi hadn't gotten his by birth he was the only one there who actually had a Sharingan, therefore he was the one who should be the most capable to stand a chance against Itachi. Still yet, not even Kakashi with a Sharingan would be able to stand up against Itachi if he looked up in to his eyes and got caught in the Tsukuyomi.

* * *

Rin hang on for dear life as she held on to the big bird's feathers.

She didn't really know what had made her do it, but as she ran there she had been certain that she couldn't let Tori fly away on her own. So she had jumped and hoped for the best, she had just been lucky that she had actually managed to grab a hold of the feathers.

She had already given up trying to get Tori's attention, from the beginning she had been calling out to the blond girl but hadn't gotten any response.

It seemed that Tori's mind was too occupied with whatever it was that she was doing for her to actually hear something like Rin screaming for help.

Suddenly she felt how her hand started to glide downwards, she looked up but didn't see anything special that made her loose her grip on the feathers. She was merely loosing it. At first she was nearly gripped with panic, what would she do if she fell?

"Tori" she screamed out higher than before in a futile attempt to get help. All the while she was trying to get a better grip, her tries did however not have the wished effect, instead they made her glide downwards even more. It didn't take long until she held on to the feathers by her mere fingertips.

"Tori! Help!" she screamed out as she suddenly lost her grip entirely and felt how she started to fall down towards the ground in a neck breaking speed.

* * *

Sakura was quickly running down the mountain with the others, desperately wishing that she could get to know what was going on somehow.

She couldn't come up with anyway but to speed up even more. Because of that she had gotten up to the front of the group as they ran, only Lee was in front of her – and he was far ahead of all of them.

Feeling the others' chakra signatures behind her she ran without looking back to see if they were there, she was confident in her new ability that she would know if somebody wasn't there.

Then suddenly she felt a large spike in Rin's chakra, to her big surprise it wasn't anywhere near her.

She stopped and looked back towards where they came from as the others ran past her, not getting the time to react on the fact that she stopped until they had already past her. Less than a meter behind her they stopped and looked at her.

"What is it Sakura?" Kiba asked her concerned. She looked back at them with large somewhat frightened eyes.

"I don't know where they are" she told them. They looked confused at her as she turned her head back again.

"We don't have time for this forehead-girl" Ino slightly erupted in an angry manner. To their surprise Sakura didn't retort something about Ino being a pig, instead she took off in the opposite direction as they were already running.

"Naruto! Rin!" she screamed as she did. At her words the others realized that the two weren't with them.

"Shino, Kiba go after her, we will go after Lee" Neji ordered the others before taking off towards his team-mate who was still oblivious to this since he was so far ahead of the others. The rest of them stood there disoriented for a while before they took off again, now Kiba and Shino ran towards the top of the mountain again as the others followed Neji and Lee.

* * *

Naruto felt the air whipping past his body and cursed to himself.

Even if it wasn't that much of a problem for him to land without hurting himself it was still yet a stupid thing to just jump like that without thinking over his position in the air.

Right now he was in the middle, without anything to take a hold on to make him fall a little slower. Still yet he constantly looked around himself.

He was too far away from the mountain wall too reach that one, and since it was at the mountain there weren't any trees around.

As he fell he continued to think over his situation and curse to himself, at the same time he concentrated chakra in to his feet so that his landing would be somewhat cushioned.

Then suddenly he came to an abrupt halt. He groaned as he got up – he hadn't had the time to concentrate enough chakra not to get hurt at all – and looked around himself, wondering where he had landed.

After a while he recognized it as the top of the fourth Hokage's head. Apparently he hadn't noticed the heads on the mountain and now he was standing on top of the one positioned lowest on the mountain. Well, he guessed that was somewhat good - even though he had taken the fall badly and felt how his ribs burned somewhat - right now he could easily run down the side of the mountain just by doing something as simple as concentrating chakra to his feet.

He chuckled mentally as he ran down the vertical slide, remembering how hard it had been the first time that he was doing this. He still remembered the feeling when he stood on top of the tree with Sasuke at his side.

Then he looked up and saw how Tori's bird flew there and Rin dangling from the feathers, when suddenly the red headed Jinchuuriki lost her grip on the feathers and fell.

Panic gripped at him as he sped up for a while, after a while he felt how he ran too fast. He couldn't keep up with the chakra and was losing his grip on the mountain wall, and at the same time he was running too fast to slow down. It didn't take long until he was falling once more without control. When he looked up again however he felt relief wash through him as he saw Rin once more having a good grip on the bird's feathers.

* * *

Deidara stood on top of his bird made out of clay and watched the wonderful explosions going off all around him.

He was in the middle of a great work of art, observing it first handed as it existed for short moments of time. This feeling was far better than any orgasm.

It was with delight he watched the Konoha shinobi dying from the explosions and he seriously couldn't understand their reluctance to die in an explosion, was there any better way to go out than that?

He laughed slightly to himself as he tossed away another load of crickets towards a group of shinobi on the ground underneath laughter escalated as he watched them go off in pain.

"Be happy, you go die in the most beautiful way possible, un" he yelled down at them before laughing more.

Suddenly he noticed that the sound from the bird's wings sounded off. There seemed to be another pair of thuds, coming from his left. He looked there and saw another clay bird there, very similar to his but with thinner more defined lines.

On top of it stood a girl just a few years younger than him, her hair and eyes were the same as his and she was dressed in the red robes of his family clan. Her expression was shocked and her eyes were tear-filled as she looked at him.

"Deidara-niichan" Tori said in a small voice.

* * *

**A/N: Hope you all liked it^^**

**Just want to say thank you to sabaku-vs-uchiha-vs-uzumaki, Ancient Kyubi. GraityTheWizard and Rena the pirate jedi wizard for your lovely reviews – please do so again^^ - and a sorry ahead of time since just as usual I will probably take some time with next chapter as well.. I do however seem to be on a creative spree and already have ideas :O**


	37. Moments of Shock

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto**

**A/N: Gosh this took a lot longer than I expected, sorry! ^^'**

**I don't know why really either, guess I've just haven't had the inspiration to write any on this one… I'm not too fond of the fighting scenes, I always have to force myself to read them, and apparently the same goes for writing them ^^'**

**I did manage to finish this one now though, and I'll definitely try to finish the next one sooner, I promise!!**

* * *

Chapter 37: Moments of shock

Even though Hinata was a chuunin she wasn't in the mountain. Since she was now the head of her clan she was considered one of the strongest in the village and basically no one could tell her what to do. And according to her – and everyone else – her place was with the Hyuuga clan. She was however worried about Naruto and the rest of her friends, her only comfort there was the fact that they were supposed to be in the mountain, and Naruto should even be under surveillance since he was the container of the Kyuubi.

The Hyuuga clan had gotten the responsibility to take care of all the small fryes – apparently the Akatsuki had in some way managed to gather a bunch of regular shinobi who came with them as a smaller army – at first the clan members had been angry. They didn't think that the prestigious Hyuuga clan should get the spot to take out the weak ones. Then Hinata had spoken to them, and they had all changed their minds as they realized how important it was to take out those so they wouldn't be in the way.

They had divided the clan in to several smaller groups, with one commander to each group. She was of course one commander, and Neji was supposed to take charge of another group.

He was however not there, and no one seemed to know where he was.

Her group was at the moment all the way back in the village, next to the mountain, readying themselves to go in to battle.

In the corner of her eyes she saw something moving on the mountain side. She looked up to see a truly shocking sight.

What she saw was Naruto falling next to the mountain side, he was falling fast, towards the ground. Her heart started to beat faster as fear gripped her. Then the next second he held out his hand towards the mountain and soon he stopped. She quickly activated her Byakugan and saw how he was concentrating chakra in to his hand, and keeping himself still in that way. A sigh of relief came from her as she understood that he was safe once again.

"Homame-san" she called out to the only member of the council who had been on the old council as well.

"Yes Hinata-sama" he said with a bow as he came up to her.

"You're in charge of this group now, I have something I need to tend to" she told him before walking away. He had earlier been a member of the group she was going to lead, but she couldn't ignore Naruto's appearance on the mountain wall and there was no one in her army she trusted more as a leader than him.

"Naruto" she called out as she reached the mountain. She saw him look down at him.

"Hinata?" she heard him call back.

"What are you doing up there?" she asked him. She didn't like him being up there at all, he was supposed to be under surveillance, she herself had been with to make sure he was.

"Ehm, trying to get down" Naruto answered before he suddenly started to travel towards the ground in a speed she thought was a little too fast. Hurriedly she stepped away from the wall as he landed in front of her.

"Hi Hinata-chan" he said with a goofy grin.

"Are you supposed to be under surveillance so the Akatsuki don't get their hands on you?" she asked him in a stern voice, because of her fear of him getting hurt she was right now in her head of the Hyuuga clan mode and not really her usual self.

"Yeah but Neji's team helped us escape" he answered with a smile.

So that was where Neji was? She felt betrayal stab at her, Neji was one of those who truly knew how worried she was over Naruto. He was one of those who truly knew how relieved she felt over the fact that her blond boyfriend was going to be under surveillance and nowhere near the Akatsuki. He was the one to go and help Naruto escape?

"Na-Na-Naruto" she said as her eyes filled up with tears, taking a hold of his hands.

"Please" she managed to press out. He looked at her shocked, not having expected any reaction even similar to this one.

"Hinata?" he said as he embraced her "what is it?" he asked her.

"Please. Don. Don't. Go" she pressed out between the hiccups, as she stood there she realized just how worried she had been over Naruto. At her words he sighed once and held her harder for a while.

"Hinata-chan" he said as he held her on an arm's length and looked her in the eyes.

"I have to go!" he told her as he looked at her, at the sight of her tear-filled eyes however he almost told her that he wouldn't go, anything to make her happy. Then he ignored that feeling, knowing that he had to go.

"Sorry" he said before planting a kiss on her forehead and ran away towards the fights. Hinata stood there shocked for a while before she regained her senses, cursed to herself and went off after Naruto.

* * *

Rin breathed heavily with relief as she managed to take a hold on the bird again with a chakra whip.

She had really been scared when she fell, and then without noticing it she had instinctively taken a hold of the bird with the chakra. As she looked up again she noticed how they were nearing another bird, almost identical to the one she was holding on to – except that one was bulkier.

On top of it stood a member of the Akatsuki with blonde hair, he was laughing loudly at something as he called down to the people on the ground. Suddenly she could hear Tori scream something from the bird's back.

'_Did she just scream niichan?'_ Rin wondered to herself as she looked up at the man.

She discarded the thought quickly as a plan took its place in her mind. Without hesitation she drew out chakra and let it close to the leg of the other bird.

At the same time she glanced up at him to see that he didn't notice her, to her luck he seemed occupied with staring at Tori with a large eye.

After just a short while she had managed to take a hold of the other bird and therefore let go of her own. As she got to the other bird she slowly started to climb up it, using her chakra at all time so she wouldn't fall. She looked over the side of the bird to see the back of the man as he still watched Tori who was still just standing there on the other bird.

The next second she quickly jumped up in to the air and towards the man, drawing out a kunai as she went. While still in the air she saw how the man tried to turn around, but didn't have the time until she landed on him and placed the kunai deep in his neck.

As she did she noticed that Tori was screaming at her, looking up she realized that she was screaming 'no' at her. The next second she felt how the man's neck gave away under her hand and as she looked down from Tori she saw how he had turned to mud, a clone.

But then where was the man?

She looked around herself to realize that he wasn't anywhere on the bird, which was made out of exploding clay. Shit!

* * *

Sakura stood at the edge of the cliff again, looking around. The situation on the ground hadn't changed much since she looked at it last, and she couldn't see Naruto or Rin anywhere.

Up in the air she could see two large white birds, as she looked at them she suddenly saw how one of them exploded, leaving only one. As it did she felt Rin's chakra mount, and her location seemed to be the explosion. Fear filled Sakura and she was nearly gripped by panic when somebody called out to her from behind. She turned around to see Kiba and Shino come running towards her.

"Rin's over there" she said, pointing towards the explosion.

"What?" Kiba asked her confused as they stopped beside her.

"Rin's over at the explosion" she repeated. Kiba and Shino looked over at it, she saw the fear on Kiba's face and felt how Shino's chakra picked up as well as realization hit him.

"We have to get over there" he said, sounding far calmer than she knew he was. Then before either she or Kiba could react he had jumped. The last thing they heard was how he told them to follow, so they did.

* * *

Naruto heard and felt the explosion and as he looked up and saw the other large bird with Tori on top of it confusion filled him. Where had that explosion comed from?

Still yet he sped up, wanting to get there as soon as possible to help her and Rin. Then suddenly he was cut off, forcing him to halt quickly, nearly making him fall. In front of him now stood a man wearing the black Akatsuki cape with the red clouds, covering his face was an orange mask with a spiral with its center over his right eye.

"Who is this then?" the man said with a surprisingly childish voice. He seemed to survey Naruto as he grabbed a hold of his own chin and started to hum thoughtfully.

"Orange clothes, Blond hair, blue eyes, whisker marks and a Konoha headband" he stood silent for a while before he suddenly jumped and hit his left hand with his right one in a fist as if realizing something very suddenly. Then the next second he started to point at Naruto fiercly as he started to stutter slightly.

"Yo-yo-yo-you're Naruto!" he exclaimed "Tobi's a good boy!" he added, sounding pleased with himself.

"Who the Hell are you?" Naruto yelled at the weird man, instead of answering he just keept on ranting that this Tobi was a good boy while doing something that seemed somewhat like a victory dance.

Quickly Naruto whipped out a kunai towards the man as he turned his back towards Naruto. To his big surprise the thing just went straight through the dancing man. And as he turned around to Naruto afterwards and started to speak he seemed serious now.

"That wasn't very nice Naruto-san!" he told him as if scolding a child. Naruto just stood there staring at the man with the mask.

"What the…" he mumbled absentmindedly, unable to grasp what had happened. Had the kunai really just passed right through him?

The next second however the man seemed to freeze before he without a warning toppled over, revealing Hinata behind him with her Byakugan activated. It seemed as if she had managed to sneak up behind the man and stun him with the Jyuuken. Making him seem all too weak to be a part of Akatsuki, should somebody really be able to sneak up on them like that?

Still yet the fact that his kunai had gone right through the man troubled Naruto.

"Are you allright?" Hinata asked him as she watched him over with her Byakugan.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Let's get out of here. I think Rin and Tori are in danger" he said before he ran past her.

"Why don't you just check?" she asked him as she joined strides with him. He turned and looked confused at her.

"Can't you three share your thoughts with each other before of the bijuus?" she asked him wondering. At her words he suddenly realized that she was and had forgotten all about it. Without a second thought he reached out with his mind, trying to find Rin or Tori.

* * *

Lee was running at full speed, enthusiastic about the sudden competition.

The fact that their village at the moment was a war zone didn't become him any, he was barely aware of it. All he cared about at that moment was to get there ahead of the others.

At the thought of winning he started to wonder where the others were, immediately he felt an urge to look back which he fought – he didn't want to lose speed now would he?

He could however not fight it entirely and just a few seconds later he looked back to see, no one. Absentmindedly he stopped, wondering where his friends were.

Had he really run that much faster than them?

A broad smile spread on his lips as he realized how much better he must have become to get that good. So it was with extra vigor to his steps that Lee kept running down the mountain, sure how his victory.

* * *

As Sakura landed she saw Kiba and Shino running in the direction that she knew lead to Rin and Tori.

Just as she went to follow them she felt another chakra signal however, the first one she had ever felt with her newly discovered kekkei-genkai.

For some reason that signature made her change direction and run directly towards it, letting Kiba and Shino keep moving without her.

She rounded a corner and saw how Kakashi fell down to a crouch, barely keeping awake, as he was released from Itachi's gen-jutsu. It looked as if her ex-sensei had taken it on himself to fight the Uchiha and had managed to get caught in a gen-jutsu.

"Kaka-sensei" she screamed as she ran out and positioned herself in between the crouching copy-nin and Itachi, stretching out her arms to protect him. She heard how he managed to press out her name and something that she guessed was an order to get out of there, she ignored him however as she watched in to the now obisidian eyes of Uchiha Itachi.

He observed her with a blank expression, and still yet she got the impression that he took in everything about her, suddenly knowing all her strengths and weaknesses.

To her great horror she felt through her kekkei-genkai how he started to consentrate chakra in to his eyes, making her certain that he was about to activate the Sharingan.

Instead of being gripped by fear or looking away as she should have she stared right at him, holding his gaze steadily. All of her being willed his chakra flow to his eyes to stop. And suddenly out of nowhere it was as if she got a set of extra hands that reached out towards Itachi and clamped down around his chakra-channels, making the flow stop.

She could of course not believe the feeling, it had to be imagination – she just wanted it to be like that – what she could believe though was her sight. His eyes hadn't changed, they were still the darkest of black. And they did seem surprised, all of his expression looked shocked.

The expression didn't fit him, it looked weird on his face, as if he hadn't been made to feel something as shock. She didn't think about this however, Sakura herself was too occupied by being shocked. Had she really just stopped his chakra flow? No, that couldn't be it – that was impossible!

* * *

Kakashi panted heavily as the gen-jutsu finally released its hold on him. He had been too careless and had gotten caught in the Tsukiyomi and been tortured for what felt like an eternity only to realize that it had been mere seconds in the real world. Everything in him screamed out as he wanted to collapse down on the ground.

Then, seemingly out of nowhere, Sakura had appeared in front of him with her arms outstreached as he could hear how she screamed his name.

"Sakura, ge the Hell out of here" he told her only to get ignored.

Anger boiled up within him as he willed her to get out of there, she wouldn't stand a chance against Itachi.

Then the next second he could hear her gasp and as he looked at him the least expectable sight he could've imagined came over him.

Was Itachi really staring shocked at the pink-haired kunoichi?

As if she had done something he couldn't have imagined, almost as if he was frightened of her. Then the next second his look of surprise was replaced with his usual blank one, almost making Kakashi believe that he had imagined the whole thing.

"Ohh, that's an interesting ability you've got there" Itachi said with his monotone voice as he regarded Sakura, because of his Sharingan Kakashi was able to notice that the Uchiha wasn't entirely calm.

"It seems to have exhausted you though" he then said, a slight smirk tugging on the corner of his lips. As he said it Kakashi realized that he was right, Sakura seemed to be breathing heavily and seemed to have trouble standing even as she crouched deeper than normally. To his utter surprise he heard how Sakura then chuckled.

"I don't need much chakra, and you still can't use your Sharingan" she said, even though he couldn't see her face Kakashi knew she was smirking. He wondered how she could be so certain of herself, and especially of the fact that Itachi couldn't use his Sharingan.

* * *

Rin looked shocked at Tori as they stood on one of the many rooftops in Konoha – one of those who hadn't been destroyed.

What was wrong with the other girl? As soon as Rin had landed on Tori's bird, after jumping from the exploding one, the blond Jinchuuriki had started to attack Rin furiously.

"What the Hell are you doing Tori?" Rin screamed out at her. Instead of answering Tori snapped out three kunais and threw them at Rin who quickly made sure to dodge them.

"Why did you do that?" Tori screamed back at her before launching herself at Rin, kunai ready in hand. Rin could hear the anger and sadness in Tori's voice.

"What are you talking about?" Rin pressed out between her teeth as she quickly brought up a shield of chakra to parry Tori's attack.

"Hey, hey, hey, calm down ladies! There's no reason to fight over me like that, un" somebody suddenly said, interrupting them.

Tori looked up towards the sound with a shocked expression on her face. Rin watched from her over to the blond Akatsuki that stood there with a cocky expression. She felt how she tensed up and got ready to fight him when, suddenly, Tori screamed out.

"Deidara-niichan" she screamed as she launched herself at the man, throwing herself around his neck whilst crying her eyes out. Rin just stood there and looked shocked at the two of them as Deidara started to pet the top of Tori's head.

"There, there, Imouto, it's allright, un" he said to her in a comforting voice.

* * *

Tobi looked after the too kids as he got up. He had heard them speak about how Jinchuurikis could communicate with thoughs. He smirked to himself as he thought of what an interesting fact that was.

"I wonder how we can use it?" he asked to himself as the masked man seemingly disappeared from the spot.

* * *

**A/N: I hope you all liked it… shocked at Deidara's reaction? Hadn't really planned it, I just wrote something and that's how it turned out … and I don't really know how to continue that =.=**

**Well, time for a thank you to my lovely reviewers! **

**Thank you GraityTheWizard, Ancient Kyubi, Rena the pirate jedi wizard and sabaku-vs-uchiha-vs-uzumaki for reviewing this story and keeping up my motivation to keep writing this thing ^^**


	38. Gobi's call

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto**

**A/N: GAH, gosh I'm late ^^'**

**Actually, I finished this last week, but I didn't have any internet then… and then Fanfiction decided that we all couldn't log in for a few days… And during those three or four days it always stood that they would "soon" finish the problem … yeah right '.**

**Well, then, the last two days then, how come I haven't updated then… well to be honest, I kinda forgot… until I went to bed every night ^^' …. I could always blame it on school I guess since I've got a lot, and on my new story (non-fanfic) … but I guess that'd just be kinda lame … ^^'**

**Oops, guess I'm keeping you all (those few who actually read this) from the chapter :P**

* * *

**Chapter 38: Gobi's call**

Naruto cursed under his breath, no matter how hard he tried he couldn't get any contact with neither Rin nor Tori.

"I can't reach them" he told Hinata as they ran side by side, heading towards where the explosion had been. Hinata merely nodded at him as she looked ahead, trying to see them with her Byakugan, unfortunately they were still out of range for her highly developed eyes.

They came to a sudden halt as they realized they had reached the small river that went through Konoha. It didn't look like a small river anymore though, it looked like a large lake. They looked around but couldn't see anybody nearby.

"This isn't good" Hinata said after a while. Naruto didn't say anything but just stared at the water. She quickly turned to Naruto as she spoke with nearly desperate words.

"We ran in the wrong direction"

* * *

Sakura felt like falling down and sleep right then and there, her chakra was close to none and all of her body ached.

Still yet she made sure to stand straight and keep the smirk on her face. The one thing that made enabled her to do so was the fact that she could feel how Itachi still couldn't activate his Sharingan.

She didn't know what she had done, but whatever it was it was something good.

Her smirked grew in intensity as she felt another familiar chakrasignature nearby. All she had to do right now was to make sure Itachi didn't notice too soon. Focusing chakra in to her hand she prepared herself to keep his focus off things.

She stopped for a second as fear gripped her, Itachi was once again focusing chakra in to his eyes. The next moment she breathed out in relief as he hit some kind of resistance.

Without a second thought she continued focusing chakra in to her hand. For a second she made sure to meet his eyes and flash him a smirk before she charged him. It took less than a second for her to reach him and direct a hit towards him. He immediately started to dodge it, before he could however she changed direction and hit the ground, splitting it with a single hit, making broken debris fly everywhere.

Once again she quickly met his gaze and flashed him a smirk, he looked at her with something akin to a shocked expression as he the next moment tried to protect himself against the small pieces of rock.

Sakura breathed out heavily as the dust settled down and revealed a scene that made her smirk genuinely this time. There was Itachi trapped by several snakes with a Mitarashi Anko standing next to him, flashing him a fang adorned grin.

* * *

Rin watched the strange scene in front of her flabbergasted. That wasn't how it was supposed to happen. Tori was not supposed to run up to the Akatsuki whilst crying, and the Akatsuki is not supposed to hug the Jinchuuriki saying that it will all be okay. That was just wrong! They were supposed to attack each other, throw kunai, blow up some stuff, simply be lethal!

"What the Hell are you two doing?" she screamed at them outraged as she lost it. Both of them turned towards her without losing their grips on each other. The sight made rage boil up in Rin. Suddenly she felt betrayed by Tori, thinking that they never should've trusted a stone nin from the beginning.

"We fucking trusted you" she screamed at Tori as she started to charge at the older girl. She stopped in the middle of the motion however as she saw Tori's expression. The girl was smiling. A genuine smile adorned her lips and she looked as if she had never been happier in her life. Rin stared at her, wondering why she smiled like that.

"He's alive" she said in a soft voice to Rin.

"My niichan is alive" Tears of happiness flooded her face as she nearly screamed the words in such a desperate tone that it seemed to cut through Rin.

It took a few seconds before the meaning of the words reached Rin, when they did she looked up to the face of the man. He was staring down at Tori with something that she couldn't identify as anything else than pure love.

From that look alone Rin understood that he truly loved his sister. Tori's brother was alive and loved her. Jealousy gripped at Rin at the thought, even though she had never wished her brother had loved her ever before she did right then. She wanted her brother to look at her like Deidara did at Tori.

Tears brimmed her eyes as the jealousy turned to anger and she wished nothing else than to kill that man for loving his sister that unconditionally. Without thinking she charged them again, truly ready to kill.

It took less than a second for Deidara to react as he quickly snapped outwards with his arms, throwing small, white grasshoppers at Rin. The moment it took for them to fly through the air towards her seemed to go on forever as she realized her mistake.

She quickly brought up her hands as she desperately tried to summon a chakrashield even though she knew it was too late for her to do so.

The next moment however she felt how someone took a hold around her, pressing her up against a body as heat suddenly radiated everywhere around them. She stood there still behind the protection of whoever it was for several seconds that seemed to flash by as less than a moment until the person loosened its grip on her slightly.

Looking up she saw Shino stand there holding her body in his arms, his bugs buzzed around him everywhere in the air, making out a black wall between them and what she knew was Tori and her brother. Before she could react Shino grabbed a hold of her face and placed his lips on hers in a rough kiss.

"Don't ever do that again" he growled as he briefly stopped for air before he continued kissing her. At the feel of his lips against her she realized just how much she felt for him, and just how much he felt for her. At the realization she felt stupid. How could she have been jealous at Tori for having somebody that loved her?

A small cough interrupted them and as they turned around they saw Kiba standing there with an impatient look on his face.

"We don't have time for this" he told them. Rin nodded as an answer and turned around again to the now thinning wall of bugs, ready to face Deidara and Tori. To her big shock however they weren't there anymore.

* * *

Tenten ran as fast as she could on their way down the mountain, all the while she was asking herself how come they hadn't jumped. It would have been so much easier, it would have bee over in a couple of seconds instead of several minutes.

She knew they had done it to save their chakra, but wouldn't they be more tired after running the entire way?

She was also worried about Lee, she knew was strong enough to tend for himself but his mind was often so far away from where it should be that she couldn't help but to worry. It had happened a lot lately that she worried extra about him, she wondered how come to herself.

* * *

Tori clang to Deidara as they flew through the air.

She couldn't even come close to describing the feeling that went through her right then. Never before had she felt a happiness that great and never before had she been this shocked. At the same time she was incredibly afraid, afraid that this wasn't really Deidara, afraid that Rin was hurt, afraid that the other girl would never forgive her, and also afraid that she would lose Deidara again too soon. For some reason that last feeling was the most prominent, almost as if a premonition that something would happen.

Merely a few seconds later they landed on another roof-top too far away for her to be able to see if Rin survived or not.

"Who's that, gaki?" a low voice said from behind her. She quickly turned around to see a short and bulky hunch-backed man stand there and staring at the two of them. He was wearing an Akatsuki-coat and a straw-hat with a small bell on it.

"This is my sister Sasori-odana" Deidara answered. Tori looked at the man with large eyes, had Deidara really just called the other man odana?

"Your what?" the man asked sounding irritated.

"My sister, un" Deidara answered again, Tori noticed how he seemed to put her slightly behind his own body.

"I didn't know you had a sister gaki" Sasori said as he seemed to regard Tori with small gleaming eyes.

"Well I did, un" Deidara said, for some reason Tori thought that she could hear a smile in his voice as he continued "And she carries the Gobi" the next second he had taken a hold of her waist and positioned her in front of himself.

"Right here, in the form of my sister, we have another biju Sasori-odana, un" her brother said in a confident tone as he pinched her arms to her sides and nearly lifted her off the ground.

At that she realized that he had only been happy to find her because she was a Jinchuuriki. Tears welled up in her eyes at the realization and pain washed through her body and seemed to build up as a lump in her chest.

Even though she was a trained shinobi there was nothing she was capable of doing at the moment because of the heavy feeling that paralyzed her mind and body.

The rest of their conversation went by as a blur to her until she was suddenly pushed aside by something, making her fly through the air and land on the roof-top some meters away from the two Akatsuki members. At the sudden movement of her body, and the slight pain that shot through her from the rough landing, her brother and his partner in crime got her attention again as they seemed to be arguing over something.

As she tried to listen to them however a loud ring started to sound through her ears and she could only hear fragments of their conversation. It had something to do with her and Deidara not telling about something. The ringing started to get to her as she felt how everything started to sway back and forth and she got dizzy, through the haze she managed to realize that she must have hit her head whilst landing.

She shook her head to get rid of the haze, and during that fragment of a second before it came back she looked up to see the last image she ever wanted to see. Deidara was standing there with a shock and scared expression as a long metallic tail-like thing protruded from Sasori and was traveling through Deidara all too quickly. Not willing to see her brother die, not willing to feel that feeling that came with knowing of his death a second time she did the only thing that seemed logical in her mind.

Without blinking she quickly threw herself in front of him, not afraid of regret, for she knew that she would not have the time to regret it ever. Just in time she managed to push him away and feel the sharp pain as the tail pierced through her torso and went right through her. Crushing her ribs and tearing up her heart and lungs in its way.

The next second she did regret it, she regretted it because of the metallic taste of her own blood as she coughed it up, she regretted it because of the feeling of her life slowly slipping away from her even though she fought it. Then she looked up to see Deidara safe and sound, but she still regretted it, not that she saved him, but that she had to die this agonizing death because of that man that was planning on killing her.

A rage larger than ever before went through her and everything around her seemed to get a burning shade of golden as she watched the man she knew wanted to capture her. Everything within her screamed out with her rage for this man and his entire organization, just as much as she hated everyone else, for they all just wanted to capture her and put her in a cage even though she should be free like it was meant to be.

She imagined that she could once again get to stretch out her large wings and sail through the air as free as all bijuu should be.

The next second all went black.

* * *

Anko groaned from the impact as her back hit the wall of a nearby house

Gritting her teeth she looked up in to the cold face of Itachi who was standing there and watching at her through his obsidian eyes that showed no emotion. Even though he wasn't using his Sharingan he was still yet more than just a formidable opponent.

Anko shot him a wicked smile, and then she suddenly flickered out of sight for less than a second before she popped up again right behind Itachi, holding a kunai to his throat. Plunging it deep in to him she realized, just in time to steer the kunai away from herself, that he wasn't there anymore.

Instead she felt his presence behind her and quickly jumped out of the way so that the kunai that he had aimed for the middle of her back instead nudged her calf. She hissed in pain as it cut through her skin, looking down and trying her leg she soon realized that it was bleeding more than what was comfortable but that no muscles had been cut.

Cursing under her breath she realized that she was more of an underdog than she had previously thought, what then truly froze her blood was how Itachi's eyes turned red as she looked up again.

* * *

Sakura watched light-headed as Itachi and Anko fought, and it wasn't hard to see that Anko was having a hard time even though Sakura had made sure that Itachi couldn't use his Sharingan.

She saw how Anko looked up from her recently cut leg and got a look of fear as she stared at the Akatsuki member. Sakura's eyebrows creased in confusion as she quickly looked over to the man to see how his eyes had turned from black to red.

She cursed at herself for not sensing the change in his chakra as she desperately tried to redo that thing she made earlier that had stopped his chakra, but nothing happened. Instead she could see how Anko – who had looked in to his eyes – suddenly screamed out in pain as she took a hold of her right shoulder before collapsing to her knees in exhaustion the next second.

Sakura kept trying without avail, then, suddenly something happened, she felt how those same arms from before seemed to stretch out from her towards Itachi, they didn't get far however as she felt how the last of her energy was drained. Wobbling slightly on her legs she felt how all started to spin around her and the corners of her world started to go black.

Then somewhere in the distance she could hear and see something indistinctive before it all truly went black.

* * *

Naruto and Hinata slid to a sudden halt as something suddenly seemed to erupt in an explosion of sound and light from a roof top to the East of them.

They looked over there and saw how light with a yellow tint travelled upwards in a fast speed. And even if a civilian would have been there right then, they would have noticed more than just the spectacular display of light and color, for even though civilians usually could not feel chakra it would be impossible for any living being not to feel the purely evil feeling that energy gave off, impossibly being anything but chakra.

Naruto felt how the hairs on his neck stood up as the wicked energy seemed to engulf him, as he looked to his right he could see how Hinata seemed to shatter her teeth and shake from fear, nothing in his mind registered this though since the chakra made it all seem so surreal.

Turning back to the explosion of light he then saw something that would have frozen him with fear if he had been able to fully use his minds, within the light was the silhouette of a large bird that slowly took a more and more distinct form, it didn't take long until it was easy to see that it was an eagle, and how its five tails whipped through the air as it raised its wings and created a sound more horrible than anything he had ever heard before.

Still yet there was something within him that wanted to answer the call, and he soon felt how that familiar and distinctively red chakra started to take over his system, and just the fraction of a second too late he realized that the Kyuubi was answering to the Gobi.

As soon as he realized it he tried to stop it, but it was already too late as he felt how his body leaped up from the ground and started to run towards where the Gobi had just been set free.

* * *

For the first time ever Rin felt fear go through her as the Hachibi's chakra circulated through her system.

Even though she wouldn't admit it to just anyone, she had always had this incredible feeling of power as she called upon the wolf, up until now however not once had it happened without her consent – if you didn't count that time when she was four, but she could impossibly remember the feeling from then. So when she now felt the chakra spread throughout her body it didn't feel good at all as she gave in to the feeling and let the biju take her to where it wanted.

* * *

Hinata stood there and watched as Naruto leaped away from besides her and towards that creature.

As she saw the light erupt and felt that ancient and evil chakra surround her she truly believed that she would never be more afraid than she was right then.

Just a second later though she felt an equally old and evil chakra start just to the left of her, as she looked over she could see how Naruto little by little was engulfed in an orange layer of chakra as his hair grew and his face was disfigured, looking more rough, as he started to lean forwards on to his hands more and more, his fingernails growing in to claws.

It had truly scared her to the core to see and feel how he gave in to such chakra and leap away from her as his skin slowly started to be ripped away from the rest of his body.

* * *

**A/N: So, hope you liked it and won't be too mad with me… both for the content in this chapter and the fact that it will probably take a while until the next one since I still haven't started writing on it, and isn't even sure what I'll put in it… I guess I'm hoping for a muse to strike me, hopefully it will ****kick my ass and fill my head with fanfiction inspiration ^^'**

**Thank you ****GraityTheWizard****, ****Darth-Taisha****, ****Rena the pirate jedi wizard****, ****Kendamn**** and ****ToushirouLover**** for your lovely reviews ^^**


	39. Bitter End

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto **

**A/N: I don't really know what to say but sorry guys.. I mean…. I haven't updated a chapter since febuary ;__;**

**I do have acceptable reasons though, this Friday my summer vacation starts and that's when I will finish my second year in upper secondary school.. The thing is, I'm reading science as my major, and here in Sweden the second year is the toughest one, especially around April and May, that's when all the national test is… and let me tell you, they're though when they come in packs of two to three per week, together with rapports on laboratory practice, essays and stuff like that =.=**

**Because of all this I was stressed out I guess and just didn't have any urge to write at all.. Now though I promise you all it's over and I can write again.. **

**For those of you who can't stand waiting for my irregular updates but still yet wants to read this thing for some reason, do not fear, for the next chapter shall be the last... And, I promise to start writing on it as soon as possible… like, tomorrow or something :P**

**Next chapter will though open up for a sequel, a story which I have planned together with my cousin since the start of this :P … It will probably take a whole lot of time before we're able to actually write much on it… so don't wait for too much too soon if you want to read it..**

**Well, I'm not going to keep you on hold any longer… those of you who actually read this that is… So here it is, chapter 39 ;)**

* * *

**Chapter 39: Bitter end**

Sakura blinked groggily as she woke up, wondering what happened. Her entire body felt heavy as she tried to sit up.

"You should take it easy Sakura-chan." a high-pitched voice said just next to her ear. She looked up to see a small Katsuyu sitting on her shoulder, the sight of the snail calmed her somewhat, it could only mean that Tsunade was still alive and that she was aiding the entire village right then through her healing jutsus with the help of Katsuyu.

"How does it look?" Sakura asked the snail as she stood up, knowing that the huge snail had divided up in to several small snails and could therefore keep check on the entire village.

"Most of the village has been demolished, the situation is calmer now than before though as it seems as if we have gained control over most of their forces. The only parts where there are still turbulence is over by the river and..." the snail quieted as if uncertain of to say something.

"What?" Sakura asked her before seeing how Katsuyu looked away from her towards the academy. As she followed the snail's gaze she wondered how she could've missed it earlier.

As she saw it she could also immediately feel it, how that sinister chakra pressed against every pore of her body, making her want to crawl in to a fetus position and just hide until it was all over.

High up in the air above the academy was a large golden colored eagle with five tails protruding from its behind. Either the seal was broken and the Gobi had taken over Tori, or it had broken free from its container. A horrible sound came out of its beak, making a shiver run down Sakura's spine in fear.

Her fear was momentarily broken by a groan nearby, and as she looked down she saw Anko lying there with a deep gash down her leg, but otherwise seemingly unharmed.

"Anko-san." Sakura called as she ran over to the woman, collapsing next to her as she realized that even though she had awoken she was exhausted and completely drained of energy.

She tried to ignore how tired she felt as she looked down at Anko's leg, trying to focus healing chakra in to her hand.

It was futile tries though as nothing happened, her hands didn't even start to shimmer green the least as nothing stirred within her no matter how hard she tried. An previously unknown fear gripped at her as a thought occurred to her, what if she had lost the ability to use her chakra through that technique?

"Sakura-chan?" a questioning voice said, looking up she saw how Genma came walking towards her, holding his senbon in his hand instead of in his mouth as usual. At the sight of him she pushed her fear to the side even though she right then realized that she couldn't feel any chakra-signals from neither him nor Anko.

"Genma!" she said as she stood up, hope tinting her voice. Because even though she told herself not to worry about her own condition she was scared that an enemy ninja would show up, neither she nor Anko could after all defend themselves right then.

"Are you two okay?" Genma asked them as he reached them, crouching down next to Anko's body.

"Yeah, Anko-san's just unconscious and the only wound she seems to have is that one on her leg." Sakura said as she motioned towards the gash across Anko's thigh. Genma nodded before he looked up at Sakura again.

"And you?" he asked her with a piercing gaze.

"I'm fine, just a little exhausted." she said with a somewhat nervous laugh. A slightly unbelieving look passed over his eyes before he turned back to Anko and her leg, ripping open her pants to inspect the cut more closely.

Suddenly she felt something flickering in the back of her mind, as she snapped her head upwards she realized what it was. She felt how two more sinister chakras started to grow and she knew immediately that it was Rin and Naruto and that they didn't have any control over the two bijuu.

"What is it?" Genma asked her as she cursed under her breath. As she met his gaze she realized why she hadn't been able to feel him or Anko, obviously her mind had been too busy feeling the enormous chakra from the Gobi that it was impossible for her to feel the chakra of mere humans.

"Naruto and Rin." was all she said before she started to run not. She knew that Genma would be able to take care of Anko right then so she wouldn't have any feelings of guilt later on, especially not since she just knew that she needed to get to Naruto and Rin. She wasn't sure why she was needed, she just knew.

* * *

Deidara looked up at the gigantic bird as it closed its talons around the edge of a roof and made itself comfortable there.

He smiled to himself as he thought of how this had just gotten much easier. At first he had been overwhelmed with the chakra, however as the Gobi had taken on its physical form more and more the chakra had started to subside and hide inside of the large bird and was by now controllable from him.

Tori's face flashed in front of his eyes, at first she had looked afraid, not for herself though but for him. Then after a while it had changed as she felt the pain and her expression had changed into shock and anger as she looked up at him.

He guessed that she hadn't expected it to hurt so much, and because of it she couldn't die without resenting him, especially not as the Gobi took over after a while. He remembered how her eyes suddenly had glazed over by a shadow, giving her bird eyes that pierced through him before her body had suddenly erupted as if a volcano, and the next moment the Gobi had broken through.

Itachi landed silently next to him. Deidara didn't turn to watch, he knew it anyway from the chakra-signature.

From it he could also notice how exhausted Itachi seemed to be, something that Deidara found odd since the Uchiha usually wasn't that exhausted unless he had used the Mangekyo for a long series of time, and who in Konoha could force him to do that?

"Let's just hurry up and get out of here." Itachi didn't look at any of them as he spoke, instead he kept his eyes firmly on the large, five-tailed bird in front of them.

* * *

Sakura ran with all of her remaining powers to where she could feel the two huge chakras, and even though she knew her tries were futile she still hoped that she would reach them before they reached the Akatsuki members.

Jumping from one roof to another she suddenly felt how the Kyuubi and the Hachibi clashed, from what she could feel it seemed as if the two didn't like each other.

Her eyes widened at the realization that the two demons were fighting each other, with Naruto and Rin's bodies. She desperately tried to add more speed to her feet when she, from exhaustion, suddenly took a wrong step and slipped.

* * *

Gai looked at the large man in front of him as he breathed heavily, the nun chucks weighed heavily in his battered hands as he thought over his situation.

He didn't really want to use _it_ unless necessary, but it really did seem as if he would have to open up some of the chakra gates.

Just as he started to ready himself to release them the blue-skinned man looked away from Gai and up in the air.

Suspiciously Gai let his gaze flicker in the same direction only to see the same large bird as earlier, still yet a new smirk grazed the other man's lips as he suddenly opened his mouth and started speaking.

"Seems as if though I gotta go." was all the mysterious man said before leaping away from there.

"Hey you coward, get back here!" Gai yelled after him as he immediately followed the man, he couldn't forgive such cowardice!

* * *

Neji didn't like the feel of this, not one bit. First Sakura, Kiba and Shino had gone the other way without them and the fact that Lee was dangerously much in front of the rest of the group. He had been nervous from the start because of those factors and for Hinata's sake, then the worst possible thing , maybe it wasn't really the worst possible thing, but right then it certainly felt like it. It had felt like being pressed down under water when the Gobi had been released and for a short time he had actually been unable to breath. Now though he had gotten used to the pressure and didn't want anything else but to get down to the village to make sure that everyone was safe, especially Hinata.

He looked around himself at the others as all of them patiently ran towards the village, even though it had only been a few minutes since they started off from the top of the hill it felt as if though they had been running for hours. Not because of exhaustion, rather because they wanted to get to Konoha to help the others. Even in a usual fight mere minutes could decide who wins and who dies, and this wasn't a usual fight, no, in this one mere seconds were enough to decide the outcome.

It was with great relief that they ran the last part down the mountain and the familiar houses of Konoha surrounded them again as they were nearing the fights. All around them were evidence of the fighting, thrown weapons, cracks in walls and the ground and even a few unconscious bodies. It seemed as if the majority of all the fights had died down and all that was left was the large ones that made sinister chakra flash out in the air.

Immediately after entering the village the group jumped up on the roof to enable easier movements throughout the town. As they did so Neji also activated his Byakugan to more accurately locate the chakra signals that they all could feel. What he saw shocked him at first before he collected himself and told the rest of them to follow him. He didn't take them far, just a few rooftops to the west. When they stopped they did so at the edge of a large plaza that none of them had seen earlier, which had to mean that it hadn't excited earlier, the two persons fighting on it must have created it with their earth-shattering attacks. It wasn't something unbelievable considering the bottom of previous walls still sticking up from the ground and the fact that the two fighting down there were Naruto and Rin.

The only one who actually recognized them at first was Neji, all because of the chakra that covered them and gave them completely new shapes. The Hyuuga boy only recognized them immediately because he could see Naruto and Rin's own chakras deep within them thanks to his eyes. It didn't take long though until the rest of them could figure out who the two fighters were because of their chakra.

They all stood there, knowing that they should do something but unable to do so. Because, after all, what were they to do against two jinchuuriki covered in bijuu chakra? No matter how much they wanted to do something they knew that they could probably only going to end up hurt and then give Naruto and Rin feelings of guilt, that was if the two Jinchuuriki survived this. Their friends didn't know what was going to happen to the blond boy and red-haired girl.

Suddenly a black-clad figure zoomed past them and landed in the ruins of buildings where the demons were fighting each other. As it stopped they could immediately identify the man as an ANBU because of the white tigre-mask that covered his face and the swirling tattoo on his arm. They watched in shock as the man immediately made

A hand sign and said a name on a technique they hadn't heard before. To their great shock pillars made from wood rose from the ground and wound themselves around Naruto and Rin, hindering them from moving further.

The group breathed out in relief at this, the man on the other hand didn't waste any air as he suddenly made several more hand-signs before screaming out one of the longest names they had ever heard on a technique. The next second the man moved quickly and hit Naruto and Rin in their chests before hurrying away from them. Just as he once more landed more wooden pillars rose from the ground, this time they were stood in a large ring surrounding Rin and Naruto, large spikes protruding from their inside.

From the roof the group watched in awe as they noticed something similar to a chakra-rope that went between the ANBU's hand and the chests of Naruto and Rin. As soon as the man had jumped away from the jinchuuriki earlier the rope had started to pull on Naruto and Rin, or was it pushing at them? No one of them were able to tell exactly what it did but after a while it seemed as if it was forcing the sinister chakra back in to the confines of their bodies again.

As the red chakra slowly showed more and more of Naruto they could all see the thin layer of skin that seemed to glow red. Ino immediately jumped down from the roof, knowing that both Naruto and Rin would need medical attention, something that she would have to make certain that they got as she was the only one there right then who knew medical ninjutsu.

* * *

The two ANBU landed on the roof and looked around. It was one of the few roofs that, surprisingly enough, hadn't been destroyed. One of them quickly walked up to the green-clad man who stood there alone.

"What seems to have expired here Maito-san?" the man said as he looked at Gai through his monkey shaped mask. Gai made an annoyed voice as he pointed up in the air to where he was watching. As the ANBU turned his gaze there he could distinguish a small dot in the air that had to be incredibly far away considering how large it had to be, because even though the ANBU hadn't been here then he could easily figure out that it had to be the Akatsuki members who were transporting the Gobi.

"I found someone!" the ANBU turned around at the call from his partner and went over there. Behind a large boulder lied the body of a blond girl, she was wearing red, formal robes that seemed to belong to some clan and she had two large wounds on her body. One of them seemed to have been from something piercing through her breast whereas the other one were in the exact same shape as a seal, placed right over her bellybutton.

"Seems to be the Jinchuuriki from Stone." said the ANBU who had found her, a horse shaped mask covered his face.

"Yeah, seems like it." said the monkey masked man as he watched the lower wound, knowing that it had to be from when the Gobi had broken free. Even though there was no doubt about it he still bent down and checked her pulse.

"She's dead." he said as confirmation when he felt her already cold and still neck under his fingers.

* * *

**A/N: Thank you to ****Gravity The Wizard, Rena the pirate jedi wizard, narutojazz19 and superfish01 for your reviews! ^^**

**I hope you're still with me and haven't given up on this lousy thing that I call myself ;___;**

**Hope you liked the chapter as well, despite all I am somewhat proud of myself.. because, three hours ago I had one and a half page written on this chapter.. and two and a half hours later I had a little over four pages (including what I had before today) … so that feels good.. just hoping I can do the same with next chapter :P**


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